


A Secret Charm in the Forbidden

by herprinceofdarkness



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gilmore Girls Inspired, Mid Season 2 AU, Re Upload, or basically a mix of GG plots with TVD characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-19
Packaged: 2018-05-21 23:55:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6062913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herprinceofdarkness/pseuds/herprinceofdarkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Damon/Elena story loosely based on episodes of Gilmore Girls. Elena and Damon are friends, but she keeps finding herself drawn to him, much to Stefan's dismay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bracebridge Dinner

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story about four years ago (lolol) and it has been on y ff.net account, but with all the Gilmore Girls shenanigans lately, I decided to upload it over here as well. Hope some new readers stop in and give it a try! :)  
> As always, I'd love any kudos or comments you guys are willing to give.

Looking around the spacious hotel lobby, she was in awe of Jenna’s work. There was lush green garland hanging everywhere and harp music playing softly. The smell of a delicious, old fashioned feast was wafting through the air. Elena was really proud of everything her aunt had done as the new head of the Mystic Falls Historical Society after her mom’s death, and the Bracebridge Dinner tonight would be no exception. With another quick glance around the room, she saw Jenna herself taking nervous gasps for air before guests began to arrive.   
“She looks nervous.”  
“Stefan!” She whirled around to face her boyfriend, her face breaking out into a smile and throwing her arms around him. “Hey.”  
“You look gorgeous,” he whispered. She was wearing one of her standard little black dresses that she saved for town events. This particular one had a sweetheart neckline and pencil skirt. She had worn it before, but she always appreciated Stefan’s ability to make her feel special. She slowly untangled her arms from his neck and took a step back to look at him.   
“I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve been here all afternoon helping Jenna set up, and I really think this is going to be amazing. Although she’s convinced it’s going to be a catastrophe.”  
The Bracebridge Dinner was a new town event hosted by the Bracebridge Hotel that Carol Lockwood had come up with. The main event of the evening was an Old English banquet style dinner, but Elena was really excited for the horse drawn carriage rides around town afterwards. The hotel had also blocked off rooms for all of the guests to stay the evening. Everyone in town was looking forward to tonight.   
“Well, I’m excited. I get to spend an entire weekend with my girlfriend at a beautiful hotel” he said, gently brushing his hand up and down her arm. He was looking at her so tenderly. Like a prized possession. That thought for some reason unsettled her.  
“Did you get your room key?”  
“Yeah, I just picked it up from Mrs. Lockwood. Are your things already up there?”  
She looked at him for a second in confusion and then burst into a fit of giggles. “You seriously thought Carol Lockwood would let us share a hotel room together? Have you met her?”  
Stefan’s face fell for an instant, but then he began to smile at her amusement. “A guy can dream, right?”  
“Why don’t you take up your bag, and I’ll meet you later for dinner. I’ll send Damon up whenever he gets here,” she said, her laughter subsiding into a soft smile.   
“Wait, Damon?”   
“Yes, brother?”  
Suddenly Damon appeared next to Elena, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. An involuntary shiver ran up her spine at his closeness, which she quickly tried to mask by sending him a fierce glare.   
“It seems we’ll be sharing a room.” Stefan had crossed his arms, his eyes squinted with frustration.   
“What?! Not happening.” His eyes widened in surprise and entertainment at the mere idea. He swung his gaze down to Elena. “Are you telling me I don’t get my own room?”  
“Sorry, Damon. But Mrs. Lockwood wanted to be family friendly with the room arrangements, and considering you’re Stefan’s brother and legal guardian, she thought it would be best if you guys stayed together,” she explained exaggeratedly, with a roll of her eyes. She hadn’t thought it would be this big of a deal, but apparently she had overestimated the Salvatores’ tolerance for each other.   
“Why doesn’t Damon just stay with Alaric or something?” Stefan sighed, grasping for some kind of easy solution.   
“Because he’s staying with Jenna. And he would probably kill you for even suggesting that,” she laughed.  
“Ouch, Elena,” Damon smirked, his blue eyes twinkling. “You know Ric and I are BFFs.”   
Grabbing his brother’s arm, Stefan started dragging Damon towards the stairs. “Let’s just get this over with.”  
“Fine, but I want the bed by the window!”  
Elena smiled at the two of them and slowly turned towards the entryway. Feeling oddly lighter, it was just then that she realized Damon had kept his arm around her that whole time. Her face turning hot, she groaned to herself.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The guests were all seated and dinner was just starting as servers began to bring in the first course. She was supposed to be seated in between Jenna and Jeremy, but she found herself next to Damon. He had apparently paid Jeremy to switch chairs with him after finding out he was seated next to Stefan. She glanced over at him and frowned. They had really just started becoming friends again after the whole neck snapping incident, and she was already feeling comfortable around him. Definitely more than she should be. But she couldn’t seem to help that there was an easiness between them.   
Shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts, she looked down at her soup and wrinkled her nose in distaste. Almost reading her thoughts, Jeremy leaned over the table to whisper, “We totally should have eaten before we came.”  
“It’s actually not that bad. A little too much garlic, though,” Stefan appraised.  
“No, I’m with mini Gilbert on this one.” Damon glared at the soup, willing it to disappear. Picking up his spoon and pointing at it, he turned to her. “What’s the green stuff?”  
“Out of the two of us, you’re the one that actually knows how to cook.”  
“I’m a master chef at Italian cuisine, Elena. God knows what this is.”  
“Will you stop being a baby and just try it?”  
“Only if you feed it to me,” he whispered seductively in her ear, his hot breath on her skin causing her to heart to beat into overtime. She was vaguely aware of Stefan shooting daggers at them across the table. She took a deep breath and slowly turned to him, their faces mere inches apart.   
“No.” She smirked, and swiftly kicked his shin under the table.   
He winced, caught off guard, and grumbled at her. “Unnecessary.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“I guess it’s just me,” she told the driver of the horse drawn sleigh, pulling a blanket up on her lap. She had been in charge of making sure every couple had gotten on a sleigh that wanted to, so now she was the only one left. When she had imagined her carriage ride around town earlier, it had been a romantic moment that she and Stefan would share. They would be wrapped in a blanket, holding hands, and looking at all the Christmas lights. But Matt had to work at the Grill tonight and Sheriff Forbes got an important call, so Caroline had begged Stefan to ride with her. She sighed.   
The carriage had only moved a few feet when she felt a weight shift next to her.   
“Damon! What are you doing?” she hissed.   
“Well, I heard it was two to a sleigh. No more, no less. You were breaking the rules.” He pointed a finger at her, teasingly.   
“Yeah, because you’re a regular law-abiding citizen of Mystic Falls,” she huffed, crossing her arms and looking out at the town square.   
He cocked his head and stared at her, slight confusion in his eyes. “Are you mad at me or something?”  
Turning on him, and meeting his gaze, “What was that at dinner, Damon? I don’t appreciate you constantly flirting with me to get a rise out of Stefan.”  
“That’s why you’re mad? Seriously, Elena?”   
“I know you both have some deep-seeded issues to work out, but I just don’t understand why you guys are constantly fighting each other. And I definitely don’t like being caught in the middle of it!,” she sighed exasperatedly, leaning lack in the carriage seat.   
Damon’s face softened at her. He leaned in and lightly tilted her chin to look at him, his fingertips shooting electricity through her skin. “Elena. I would never use you as a way to fight my battles. You’re worth more than that.”  
His eyes locked with hers, the truth of his words exposed in his intensity. She couldn’t seem to turn her gaze away from his, the deep blue of his eyes mesmerizing her. “Damon…stop…”she managed to murmur, looking down. Yes. Definitely too comfortable, she thought.   
Pursing his lips, he turned away from her and casually tossing his arm on the top of the seat. They both sat in awkward silence, looking out the carriage on their respected sides. Frustrated, Elena’s eyes began to wander until something caught her attention.   
“Look! It’s the snow man competition!” she exclaimed, eyes shining, practically reaching over him to point out all the different snowmen in the park.  
“I saw.” He smirked at her obvious excitement.   
“It’s one of my favorite things about winter. Caroline, Bonnie, and I have entered the contest together since we were kids,” she said smiling at her memories and settling back next to him. “When we were eight, Caroline practically begged us to make a Jonathon Taylor Thomas snowman until we finally agreed. It turned out awful,” she laughed. “Have you ever made a snowman?”  
“Nope.”   
“What? Why not?”   
“Well, the whole practice didn’t really get popular until around the 40’s. And after I was turned, I never really felt the desire,” he explained flippantly.  
“Damon! You’re so deprived! Building a snowman is like a rite of passage for a kid! You have to promise me you’ll build one before winter’s over.” She looked up at him with a critical eye. She knew she sounded silly, but this was something that was important to her as a kid, and she wanted Damon to have that experience.   
Turning his head down to meet her scrutiny, he smiled a genuine smile. “If you help me. Considering you’re the expert, of course.” She returned his smile and nodded her head. Leaning her head back to rest on his arm, she let her eyes close. She reveled in the quiet of the night and as light flurries of snow began to fall, she found peace.


	2. There's The Rub

“So please explain this to me again?”  
It was Saturday afternoon, and Elena was lying on her bed, deep in conversation with her boyfriend. She sighed. “Look Stefan, I know you don’t understand but with Jenna and Alaric gone on a teacher’s conference and Jeremy spending the day with Bonnie, I don’t know. I kind of wanted to spend the day by myself. Maybe watch a bunch of movies, write in my diary, paint my nails, and just sort of relax and forget about all the supernatural for a while.” She got up and started pacing around her room as sunlight streamed through the window and warmed her skin.   
“I get it, Elena, I do. I was just really looking forward to spending time with you.”  
“I promise tomorrow is your day, from morning to night. You can plan it, or I will, or we can even hire a professional to do it. Whatever you want.”   
“Alright,” Stefan said, laughing. “It’s a deal. Have a nice, relaxing day. I love you.”  
“Love you, too,” she smiled and hung up, sitting on her bed again. She picked up her diary and opened to where she left off.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Elena had just sat down on the couch to watch a movie when she heard the door open and slam closed, Jeremy storming past her into the kitchen. “Jer?” she asked. “What’s wrong?” She got up to follow him, her movie night temporarily put on hold as concern for her brother overtook her.   
“Your best friend’s a bitch, that’s what’s wrong!” he shouted angrily. “She just…uh!” He poured himself a glass of water only to slam it down, causing water to splash on the counter.   
Worried and confused, she wondered what could have possibly happened between Bonnie and her brother to cause him to be so upset. She furrowed her brow and looked at his clearly agitated form. “Do you wanna talk about it?”  
He sighed, staring absently out the window. “No, not right now.” Turning back to look at her standing in her pajamas with movies, nail polish, and magazines spread out all over the living room, he smiled. “This was your big plan for the night? A pajama party for one?”   
“Hey! Shut up!”   
“Whatever, I’ll be in my room,” he laughed, heading up the stairs.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Elena was about halfway through A Walk to Remember, sobbing at Mandy Moore’s tearful confession of leukemia to Shane West, when the doorbell rang. She knew she had gone through an internal debate on whether or not to call for a pizza, but she was pretty sure she had decided to wait to order until after the movie was over. Wiping at her eyes haphazardly, she opened the door only to step back in surprise.   
“Damon, what are you doing here?”  
He was standing on her front porch, wearing his signature darkwash jeans and black v-neck, holding a bag of what appeared to be takeout from the Grill. “Food delivery,” he smirked as his eyes wandered up and down her lean frame.  
Fidgeting, she was suddenly very aware of how she must look, wearing only short pajama shorts and a tank top, with messy hair and puffy eyes. “Umm…”  
“I was chatting with Ric earlier, and he mentioned that you happened to be all by your lonesome today,” he cut her off. “He said he and Jenna would feel better if I could swing by. And I’m glad I did,” he said stepping inside and looking around the scattered living room. “This looks like a scene from a bad chick flick. Did you and Stefan break up or something?”  
“No, I was just taking a personal day. Does no one get that?” she scowled, closing the door behind him. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed. “Thank you for the food, Damon. You can stay and eat if you want,” she offered, leading him into the kitchen.  
“Who am I to pass up dinner with a beautiful woman?” His voice melted over her, causing heat to rise in her chest.  
“Elena, who was at the door?” Jeremy asked, appearing at the bottom of the stairs. “Damon, thank God you’re here,” he exclaimed, spotting the two of them.   
They both turned to him, shocked. “Did you just say what I think you just said?”  
“Thanks, Elena. Really,” Damon snarked, setting the food on the counter. “Is there something I can do for you, Gilbert?”  
Jeremy hesitated, glancing at Elena. “Actually I got in a fight with Bonnie today, and I, well, I kinda wanted some advice.”  
“You realize me and Judgy hate each other,” he deadpanned.  
“Can you pretend you don’t for five minutes?”   
Damon sighed, exaggeratedly. “Fine, I just hope I don’t overexert myself.”  
As the boys walked into the living room, she started to take the food out of the bag and put it onto plates, a feeble attempt she and Jenna often used to hide their nonexistent cooking skills. She shook her head. Sometimes Damon and Jeremy’s friendship (if you could call it that) baffled her. Logically she would have thought that, out of the two Salvatore brothers, Jeremy would be closer to her boyfriend. Especially considering the fact that Damon once killed him. However, the two seemed to find common ground on a lot of things. Both had been incredibly unlucky with love in the past, dealing with feelings of loss and rejection. Oddly enough, she thought that Jeremy looked up to him in a way.   
“Look Jeremy, girls like Bonnie are really independent and don’t like having their ideas and opinions undermined. Don’t tell her she’s wrong; just listen to her. Even though you sure as hell know that whatever she wants to do is insane and careless.”  
Elena cocked her head to the side, picking up pieces of their conversation. What did Bonnie do that Jeremy didn’t agree with? Was it dangerous?  
“We’re still talking about Bonnie, right?”  
“What else would we be talking about?” Damon snapped.  
“Well, you keep glancing at the kitchen, and I know you’re worried about Elena’s recent suicidal tendencies.”  
Elena shot her head down at hearing that. She always knew that Damon found that whole situation frustrating and irritating. But he had been worried about her. He cared about her. She supposed she really shouldn’t be surprised. There had been a myriad of hints pointing to just that; slight indications she just so willingly chose to ignore for her and Stefan’s sake. Because he’s in love with you. She shivered. Truthfully, she’d been perfectly happy to pretend like Damon’s feelings toward her didn’t exist, because if she did, then she’d have to consider how she felt about him. That was definitely something she didn’t want to think about. She sighed, sitting down at the counter.  
“You know it’s still take out, whether it’s on plates or not.”  
She looked up as Damon and Jeremy reentered the kitchen. “Damn, Damon. You got enough food for like ten people.”  
“I’ve seen you Gilberts eat,” he raised his eyebrows challengingly.   
“Okay, six people then,” Jeremy relented. Turning to Elena, he smiled. “I’m gonna go and try to fix things with Bonnie. Leave me some leftovers.”  
As Jeremy left out the back door, Damon sat down across from her at the counter. “You know you’re good with him,” she said absentmindedly as they began to eat.   
“Yeah, okay,” he rolled his eyes.   
“No, I’m serious. I think you guys are, dare I say it, friendly,” she teased.  
“The kid’s not half bad,” he gave in. “What are you doing?”  
She was simultaneously pouring salt and pepper into a small pile. “Salt and pepper dip. It’s the only way to eat a fry.”  
He raised his eyes brows at her in disbelief. “That looks disgusting.”  
“Try it. It’s a fast food gospel.”  
He eyed her suspiciously, but dipped a french fry into the condiment mix and stuck it in his mouth. “That’s pretty good. Really good, actually,” he nodded his head in approval.   
“Didn’t I tell you? After some 170 years, I’m surprised you’ve never heard of it before.”  
The fell into a companionable silence, eating their burgers and fries. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. Thank God Alaric asked Damon to bring over takeout. That reminded her… Reaching into her pocket to get her phone, she remembered she left it on her dresser upstairs.   
“Damon, can I borrow your phone to call Ric? I wanted to thank him and Jenna for asking you to feed me,” she smiled.   
“Umm, no,” he deadpanned.   
“What? Why not?” she asked, taken aback.  
“We don’t want to interrupt them on their weekend away, Elena. You never know what they could be doing,” he said suggestively, doing that eye thing he always does.   
“Ew! That’s my aunt and my history teacher, Damon! Nightmares!”   
“Oh, Elena. It’s the birds and the bees. Everybody does it…”  
She crossed her arms and glared at him. “Stop changing the subject. Why can’t I just call them and say thank you?”  
“Can you just let it go?” he said exasperatedly, starting to fidget slightly.  
“Wait a minute, you’re squirming!” she giggled.  
“Elena…”  
“I’ve never seen you squirm. It’s entertaining.”  
“Look, it might not have technically been Ric and Jenna’s suggestion that I swing by,” he alluded.   
“You wanted to come over,” she grinned.   
“I was just out of bourbon and Stefan was being depressing, and I just thought you’d be more fun,” he confessed, giving her a soft smile.   
She sat there and thought about his words, finishing up her food. After a second, she looked back up to him. “You didn’t have to lie about it. You know you can always come over,” she returned his smile. She got up and began piling their plates next to the sink to be washed later.   
Damon’s eyes wandered and soon fell on the TV, which still had the DVD player on pause. “Did you want to finish that?”  
Turning to following his gaze, her brow furrowed. “I thought you hated chick flicks?”  
“Maybe, but l do love Mandy Moore,” he smirked at her mischievously.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
By the time the movie ended, she was lying across the couch, one arm on her stomach and the other behind her head with her legs strewn over Damon’s lap. As the credits started to roll, his feet were propped up on the coffee table while his fingers were slowly rubbing circles over her calves. “Elena?” he leaned over her, brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Elena?” he repeated, softly.  
“Hmm?” she murmured, her eyes heavy in a semi sleep state.   
“Why don’t I go, and you can get some sleep. You look exhausted.”  
“Alright,” she agreed, as Damon picked up her legs from his lap and swung them around so her feet touched the floor.   
They both stood up, Elena leading him towards the front door. “I hope I didn’t intrude too much on your night,” he said teasingly, trying to lighten the mood.  
“I’m glad you came, Damon,” she admitted, opening the door. Although she had her heart set on a relaxing day by herself just that morning, she had really enjoyed her evening. Actually, thinking to herself, she always ends up having a good time when she’s with Damon.   
Noticing he had stopped in the doorway, Elena stepped forward to look outside.  
“Stefan.”   
She looked at her boyfriend coming up the front porch in confusion. He was looking in between her and his brother, his forehead creasing in suspicion.   
“Damon…?”  
She awkwardly crossed her arms under his scrutiny, aware of how this must look to her boyfriend: her in mildly revealing pajamas and both of them with slightly wrinkled clothes and hair from lying on the couch a little too long.   
“Hey, brother. Fancy meeting you here,” Damon smirked, watching Stefan’s face turn from suspicion to anger. He raised his hands in mock surrender at Stefan’s approaching figure, “Hey, I was just leaving. Let’s not get all West Side Story here. Besides, we both know how that would end anyway.”  
“Goodbye, Damon,” she hissed, her eyes blazed in irritation.  
“Until next time, Elena,” he bowed his head, kissing her hand and sending fire up her arm, only furthering her anger at the situation. Straightening up, he sent her a final look and sped off.  
“So. Stefan. What are you doing here?” she asked weakly, as he stormed passed her into the house.  
“What am I doing here? Honestly, Elena?” he cocked his head doubtfully at her. He looked around the house, taking in the dirty dishes next to the sink and the empty movie box on the coffee table with the credits still rolling on the TV. “I came here because I wanted to persuade you to go out for ice cream with me. I called you, but you were apparently too busy to answer,” he narrowed his eyes at her.   
“Stefan, you know that’s not true! I just left my phone upstairs!” she cried. “Stop making accusations!”  
“Elena, I’m sorry, but you tell me specifically you want to be alone tonight, and then I show up and you’re with my brother having a cozy night watching movies!” he yelled, pacing back and forth on the wood flooring.   
“Look, Damon only came over to bring over some food because Ric called and asked him to check on me,” she said, trying to appease him, but the lie tasted somehow bitter in her mouth. “I was already watching something so we just finished it, okay? I didn’t plan this.”  
His face softened, his shoulders slumping as he turned to her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “Why didn’t you call me?”  
Her face tensed up. “I didn’t really feel the need to run and call you the second Damon came over. You know we’re friends, Stefan. I didn’t think I needed your permission to spend time with him,” she said tersely. He took a step back from her, brow one again furrowing.   
“You don’t, Elena. I just thought that you wanted to spend tonight alone, and if things changed, you would call me so we could do something.”  
“I did want to be by myself, but he came over, and I wasn’t going to kick him out just so I could call you over. I mean, we’re spending all of tomorrow together. Right?” she asked challengingly.  
“Right,” he sighed, exasperated. “You look tired; I’ll just see you in the morning.” He kissed her temple and swiftly walked out the door, leaving her alone in her front room. She let out a deep breath and looked around the room, decided to just leave it to clean up in the morning.  
“Okay…” she muttered, wondering how the hell her night got so turned around. Walking upstairs, she tried to clear her mind of all her racing thoughts, but she still ended up coming back to the memory of Damon’s light kiss on her hand, still feeling the electricity coursing through her body.


	3. A-Tisket, A-Tasket

Spring had finally sprung in Mystic Falls as Caroline and Elena walked leisurely toward the town square for the annual Bid on a Basket fundraiser. Birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and Elena couldn’t be in a better mood. She sighed in contentment and swung her basket at her side. She couldn’t wait for Stefan to win her basket, although there was really nothing edible in it, and for them to have a beautiful picnic together in the park.  
“So I’ve decided I’m saving myself for William Holden.”  
“Wow, Care. It’s really nice out here in left field,” she laughed, turning to give her best friend an appraising look.  
“What? Sabrina was on last night, and I don’t know. There was just something about him. The way he was so confident and charming, courting her secretly at the tennis courts with champagne,” she said wistfully, her eyes twinkling. “I swear, I don’t know why Audrey Hepburn didn’t pick him over his boring brother.”  
“Yeah…,” she stuttered, a strange familiarity in her words making her uneasy. Turning back to her friend with a teasing grin, “You know he’s dead, don’t you?”  
“The brother?” Caroline exclaimed, her face brightening.  
“William Holden,” she deadpanned.  
“Well. Every great relationship has its obstacles,” she jokingly rationalized, raising her eyebrows at Elena.  
“Yeah, like your boyfriend, Matt. Remember him?” Elena retorted sarcastically.  
At hearing Matt’s name, Caroline deflated and dropped the fun façade. “I don’t know, Elena. Ever since I …you know…turned,” she confessed, looking surreptitiously around for eavesdroppers, “I feel like there’s been this huge distance between us.”  
“Care...”  
“It’s just that I’m hiding this huge part of my life from him! And I want to tell him, but I’m so scared that he won’t love me the same way. Or worse, he’ll be afraid of me.”  
Elena wished there was something she could say to Caroline to make everything better. She wanted to say that Matt would understand and still love her just like she had with Stefan, but she couldn’t make that promise. It was such a complicated situation for somebody to come to terms with. She sighed and gently patted Caroline on the shoulder.  
“But I decided that today we’re going to have the perfect day,” she said, cheering up. Gesturing to her basket, “I packed some homemade subs, chips, fruit salad, and chocolate cupcakes, and once Matt buys my basket, I thought we could eat out by the Falls. I mean, what’s more romantic than a picnic?”  
“Exactly,” Elena smiled at Caroline’s optimism. She had always admired that quality in her friend. “Look, there’s Bonnie!” she pointed out there other best friend and waved, as they approached the center of town where the annual event was taking place.  
There was a small stage with tables where piles of unique picnic baskets were already placed. Carol Lockwood’s podium was being fitted for a microphone by the tech crew, and volunteers were racing frantically to put up the last of the decorations. Townspeople were beginning to assemble, and Caroline and Elena looked at each other excitedly. They both couldn’t wait to go on their perfect picnics.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“I’m gonna kill him,” Stefan fumed, pacing in front of her.  
She sighed. Of course she was angry at Damon for outbidding Stefan and buying her basket, but there was no use in them both being upset. “He was probably just fooling around or something. You know how Damon is.”  
“Yeah, I do. And he’s messing with me. I just don’t get it. I thought he was actually starting to be civil,” he snorted obnoxiously, as if at his own stupidity for believing such a thing.  
“Stefan, just calm down,” she urged, glancing at the basket-bidding just to her left. She went to grasp his arm in comfort, put he stepped back from her.  
“Why would he do this?” he snapped in frustration.  
“Maybe he was hungry!” she guessed, throwing her hands up, although she knew logically even that didn’t make sense. She hadn’t packed any blood in her basket, and there was no way she was going to open up a vein.  
Walking up from behind her, Damon positioned himself in between Elena and his brother. “I have to say, out of all the idiotic festivals this town has, this one’s probably one of my favorites,” he smirked, looking between the two, Elena’s white picnic basket in hand.  
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Stefan growled.  
“I am, thanks so much for asking!” he mocked. Turning to Elena, he grinned. Holding out his arm for her, “Shall we go?”  
“What?”  
“Go eat,” he clarified. “The person who buys the basket wins the company of the person who made the basket for lunch. Must I explain everything to you, Stefan? And I thought you were the one in school,” he rolled his eyes in amusement.  
“She’s not going with you,” Stefan hissed at his brother. The mock expression on Damon’s face dropped, and Elena could feel the tension between the two.  
“I’d like to hear that from her, if you don’t mind,” Damon spoke coldly, sizing him up.  
“Guys, please,” she murmured, wedging herself between them. Turning to face her boyfriend, she eyed him imploringly. “Stefan…”  
“What? Elena! You’re not seriously considering this!” he cried in confusion.  
“It’s tradition! Me and my family have been doing this for as long as I can remember. Jeremy would always buy my basket, and then Matt-”  
“-And then me,” Damon smirked in satisfaction.  
“I don’t believe this.”  
“You know Damon and I are friends, right? This isn’t a big deal,” she tried to convince Stefan, and truthfully herself. She sighed. “I mean, what are you afraid’s going to happen?”  
“Yeah, Stefan. What do you think I’m going to do?” Damon challenged, blue eyes blazing.  
Ignoring his brother, Stefan focused on his girlfriend. “Please don’t go,” pleadingly looking into her doe eyes.  
“Look, Stefan. It’s a picnic. We sit, we eat, it’s over. Get over yourself,” Damon drawled, disgusted at his brother’s high morals.  
“Fine! Forget it! Go,” Stefan shouted, storming past them as fast as he could.  
“Stefan!” Elena ran to catch up with him, catching his arm. “Please, I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, desperately hoping he’ll understand. She didn’t ask Damon to do this. She didn’t plan this.  
“Elena. You already did.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
She sighed, crossing her arms against the light spring breeze and pulled her tan, cropped leather jacket tighter. She told Damon she didn’t care where they ate, and Elena had previously been following him without complaint, mostly because she was too irritated with him to bother. But at seeing where he was walking into, she stopped in her tracks. She’d had enough of his games.  
“The cemetery. You’re taking me to the cemetery?” she deadpanned.  
Damon turned to face her, realizing that she was no longer following him. “Is that a problem, Elena? I thought you’d appreciate the sentimentality. This is where we first met, after all,” he grinned, a twinkle in his eye. He nodded his head forward, signaling he wanted her to continue on.  
“You mean where you first stalked me,” she corrected, reluctantly falling into step beside him.  
“I prefer ‘admired from afar.’”  
“Yeah, okay,” she rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself. She looked up and found him staring down at her. His eyes were wide with amusement, hope, and… something else. No. She shook her head, turning her gaze away. “I just don’t like the idea of eating with dead people,” she said after a pause, getting back to his initial question.  
“I’m dead,” his voice dripped sardonically. She giggled at his bruised ego due to her unintentional word choice. “Case in point,” she teased him, lightly pushing his shoulder.  
“You wound me, Elena,” he pouted, his hand over his nonbeating heart. He seemed lost in thought for a second before he cocked his head at her. “I still don’t understand your aversion to cemeteries. You write in your diary here all the time….Unless you had somewhere more romantic in mind?” he raised his eyebrows mischievously.  
What’s more romantic than a picnic. She froze, Caroline’s seemingly harmless words involuntarily invading her conscious. Then the words suddenly morphed into images of her and Damon lying on a blanket under the Falls eating chocolate cupcakes together, Caroline and Matt’s date for today. And it wasn’t horrifying her. On the contrary, she thought they looked cute together.  
No, no, No. No matter how much chemistry her and Damon admittedly had, she loved Stefan. He was her boyfriend, and she was always safe and content with him. And Damon was…well, Damon. She sighed. She didn’t know what to think.  
“Come on, I want to show you something,” Damon said, dragging her out of her thoughts prematurely. He gently took her delicate wrist in his hand and led her off the path into the midst of gravestones, his thumb placed right over her erratically thumping pulse point which betrayed everything she was trying so hard to deny.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Hey Stefan!” Bonnie waved at him as he was attempting to make his way out of town and back to the boarding house. He was really in no mood to make pleasantries with her, but she had already strolled up to meet him. She gave a quick glance at their surroundings before turning back to him, “Where’s Elena?”  
“Damon won her basket,” he said, gritting his teeth to keep his composure. Immediately he could see how Bonnie’s slight frame tensed and her hands unconsciously curled into little fists.  
“You mean she’s on a date with him?” she hissed, her eyes blazing. Stefan, feeling already emotionally drained of the whole issue, just gave a curt nod and let his eyes wander to the other townspeople dispersing from the square.  
“I can’t believe that bastard! He always ruining everything; he can’t let you two have one happy day together? Uh…” she trailed off from her rant, realizing that her anger wasn’t helping her friend in this situation. She sighed and bottled it in temporarily, promising herself next time she saw Damon he would be slammed with a major vamp headache.  
“The fact that Damon did this isn’t really that surprising. I just can’t believe that Elena went with him,” he confessed to the young witch.  
“Well, you know how Elena is; she loves these town traditions. And I guess she and Damon are kind of friends, right?” she wrinkled her nose in distaste. “I don’t like this as much as you do, but let’s try not to make it a big deal.”  
Stefan let out a deep breath, and looked dejectedly at Bonnie, admitting, “It’s not just about today, though. It seems like Elena’s always defending him, fighting for him, forgiving him, when he doesn’t really deserve it. I’m just worried.” About what, he wasn’t exactly sure yet. Damon hurting her, or…  
“Elena loves you, Stefan. She’s not going to do anything that she doesn’t think is right. We just have to trust her,” Bonnie said reassuringly, hoping her best friend knows what she’s doing.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
They had gotten to the far back corner of the cemetery when Damon abruptly stopped, causing her to almost walk straight into him. Looking up at what they were standing in front of, Elena realized she had been here before.  
“Your father’s grave?” she asked, looking at him in slight confusion. Damon had a horrible relationship with his father, from what she had gathered. While he always found new ways to surprise her, she didn’t think that he was secretly a fan of visiting his dearly departed dad.  
“What? No, of course not,” Damon spoke, momentarily disoriented. “Besides, you’ve gotten more up close and personal with him than I’d wish on anybody,” he smirked at her, recalling the unpleasant time she and Stefan dug up Giuseppe’s grave to get the Bennett grimoire. And double cross him in the process. She winced at the memory. “Over there,” he turned back ahead and pointed, directing her gaze slightly to the right.  
“Your mother,” Elena spoke in realization, staring at the aged headstone. Adrianna Salvatore. She had always wondered about the woman who had raised the two brothers, but it hadn’t even crossed her mind that Damon would want to take her here. She rested her hand on his shoulder as a gesture of comfort, because while she may have been dead for quite some time, Elena understood better than anyone that the hurt never truly goes away.  
“I like to come here every once in a while to think,” he muttered in explanation, his brows furrowed and his gaze lost in what she assumed to be an old memory. She couldn’t help but think how utterly human he looked in that moment. It was strange to think that just that afternoon she was furious with him, and now she was commiserating over his dead mother. Although being around Damon was always an emotional rollercoaster for her.  
“I suppose Stefan hasn’t really told you much about her,” he assumed, breaking out of his thoughts to meet her eyes. She shook her head mutely in agreement. “He was only two when she died, so he doesn’t really remember her, only the stories I used to tell him.”  
She angled toward him, listening intently to his words. “She was incredibly strong and independent. While my father was always stubborn, bitter, and pretty much an ass, my mother was the free spirited one. She had this infectious sense of humor that she just loved to use to make me and Stefan laugh,” he reminisced wistfully, a slight smile on his face.  
“She sounds amazing, Damon,” she said sincerely, his eyes softening at her and warming her heart. It was these rare moments with Damon when he let his guard down and let her in that she cherished. They reminded her why she always fought for him when no one else did; he had the potential to be the better man that she knew he could be.  
“She would have liked you, you know,” he mentioned. “She always called me her little heartbreaker, even though I was only eight. She’d have liked how you always call me on my shit,” he smirked.  
He took a step back out of her grasp and sank to the ground. Leaning against a crumbling headstone, he placed her forgotten picnic basket next to him. He patted the grass on his other side exaggeratedly, gesturing for her to join him.  
“Damon…” she hesitated. She didn’t want to get dirt or grass stains on her new dark denim skinny jeans and ruin them.  
“Elena, I don’t think…,” he leaned over to look at the other side of the grave, “…Clarence Harrison is really going to mind much. He’s been dead for over a hundred forty years,” he rolled his eyes, mistaking her uncertainty for further aversion to the dead. Then moving too fast for her to react, he reached up and grabbed her waist, pulling her down against him.  
“Damon!” she glared, folding her arms in front of her. “You didn’t have to do that.”  
“But it was so much fun!” he whined teasingly, failing to remove his arm from around her waist. She looked over at him in amusement. “Well, I think it’s time we finally opened this thing,” he assessed, reaching for her basket and set it in front of him.  
“Go ahead,” she challenged, raising her brows at him.  
“Well, okay then,” he mimicked her tone, flipping the lid off and proceeding to search through the contents.  
“So, why did you do it?” she finally asked.  
“Do what?” he spoke in mock confusion, not looking up from examining her food.  
“Outbid Stefan like that,” she clarified.  
“Wow. There’s not one thing in here I would remotely consider eating,” he marveled. “No blood bags?” At hearing her frustrated growl, he finally looked back up at her, setting her basket down, and sighed. “I don’t know, I guess it kind of just started out as a joke to irritate him. But he got so mad; and he just looked so funny with his face all squinty and broody. You know the look.”  
He paused, thinking about his next words, while absently drawing circles on her hip with his thumb. She hoped he didn’t notice the catch in her breath, however that was doubtful. “I didn’t mean to take it as far as I did, to outbid him like that. Besides Elena, if I remember correctly you’re not the worst company in the world. I’m surprised you didn’t have more guys clamoring to buy this thing,” he grinned boyishly at her.  
“Why are you only nice to me?” she looked at him inquisitively with a tilt of her head. “You’ve hurt and threatened Bonnie and Caroline, killed Jeremy, and just an hour ago you were screwing with your brother, but here you are being completely charming and pleasant with me.”  
“Because I don’t give a damn about them,” he replied flippantly.  
“That’s not true, Damon. You care,” she said, looking searchingly into his eyes for him to understand. He turned his gaze down, his walls firmly back in place. She sighed.  
Picking her basket back up, a smirk crossed his face as he took out a Tupperware container of her attempt at homemade tuna salad. “Seriously, Elena?” he inquired, bemused.  
“Well, I didn’t make it for you. I made it for Stefan,” she raised her chin defiantly at him.  
“And Stefan would’ve eaten this?” Damon asked, lifting off the lid and cautiously smelling her cooking.  
“Yes, he would have,” she answered confidently.  
“Then my brother’s even stupider than I thought,” he mused, putting the lid firmly back in place.  
“You’re not even going to try it?” she asked dejectedly.  
“Elena, while normally I hold you in the utmost regard, your feeble attempt at cooking makes me glad I don’t technically have to eat.” He untangled himself from her and hopped to his feet, looking down at her with shining eyes.  
“Come on, I’m gonna make you the best chicken parmesan you’ve ever tasted,” he propositioned, holding out his hand for her. She looked up and met his gentle gaze, slowly placing her hand in his with a smile.


	4. Teach Me Tonight

“Alright, so this should be all of them,” Alaric said, walking into the Salvatore house with a large cardboard box piled high with volumes of books. Setting them down on the coffee table, he heaved a sigh of relief. “I already dropped off the box with possible spellbooks and witch folklore to Bonnie’s, and she and Jeremy are going through them together. These are all the ones on myths about vampires and the Originals. Plus there’s some stuff on werewolves, as well.”   
“And how can we be so sure this Vanessa girl can be trusted?” Damon retaliated while pouring himself a glass of bourbon from the drink cart. Lounging over to take a seat on the couch across from Elena and Stefan, he looked calculatingly around the room. “She did try to kill me, remember.”  
“Can you blame her?” Ric disparaged, taking a seat in the armchair in the corner.  
“Haha,” he drawled. “But seriously.”  
“Their department has gotten a lot of donations recently from retiring professors and closing libraries. She said she’s been on the lookout for anything we could use for a while and thought these might be helpful,” Stefan interjected, keeping a level eye on his brother.   
“Not good enough,” he said, his mouth twisting into an icy grin.   
“Damon,” Elena breathed, her temperate gaze dissipating his agitation, “they’re just books. We can do whatever we want with the information.” Letting out a breath, Damon pursed his lips in acquiescence and, after a moment’s pause, took a long gulp of his drink.   
Removing himself from Elena’s side, Stefan slowly stood. He had promised Caroline he would take her into the city tonight to practice more impulse control in large crowds of people. She was adjusting remarkably well since her transition, but she wanted to improve as much as she could to prevent any accidents ever since she attacked Matt. Looking down at Elena regrettably, “I have to go. We probably won’t be back until late, so don’t wait up for me.”  
Rising to walk him out, she linked her arm with his. “It’s okay, Stefan. I think this will be good for Caroline. I’m sure we’ll just be here looking through all these, trying to find something interesting,” she reassured him, kissing him lightly goodbye.   
After returning to her seat on the couch, she and Ric began to peruse through the assortment of texts, each choosing one to read through. Damon, however, had preoccupied himself by playing with a deck of cards. Apparently, she thought bitterly, he still believed this was a waste of time. Trying to ignore him and focus on her book, she continued to read about vampire myths and transformations. But when he started bemusedly whistling Dynamite by Taio Cruz, she thrust her book down on her lap in aggravation.   
“Damon!” she all but snarled, “will you please just open a book?”  
“Pick a card, any card,” he fanned out the deck right in front of her, ignoring the obvious anger bubbling up in her small frame. Without looking up from his reading, Alaric reached over and swiped the cards right out of Damon’s palms and tossing them on the floor.  
Damon glanced up from his scattered cards to the history teacher, unimpressed. “Well, that makes the trick infinitely more difficult.” Ric only glanced up at him, raising his brow wryly. With a deep exhale, Damon downed the rest of his drink with a slight wince and grabbed a book.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
As she found herself reading the same paragraph for the third time, Elena shifted restlessly on the cushions. Hours had passed since they started their research, and she had lost her focus. She had read through four books already and hadn’t discovered anything important. Alaric had left a while ago to help Jenna with wedding plans. He had proposed to her during their Bid on a Basket date after telling her the truth about the supernatural beings in Mystic Falls. To her credit, Jenna took it all surprisingly well and it only made her and Ric closer. Elena, while nervous that Jenna’s new involvement in the supernatural would put her in danger, was ecstatic for Jenna and Ric’s future life together.   
Fidgeting slightly, Elena’s scattered gaze wandered around the Salvatore living room. Her eyes unconsciously settled on Damon, the glowing light from the fireplace dancing patterns on his complexion. His neck was craned down over a rather large volume causing dark pieces of his hair to fall in front of his face. He scribbled notes on a loose leaf sheet of paper, his eyes locked in an intense expression.   
“I know I’m hot, but would you stop staring me?” Damon quirked his eyebrow, looking up at her. “It’s creepy.” She quickly turned her head, heat rising to her cheeks. It’s not like she meant to gawk at him, let alone be so obvious.  
“This is such a waste of time!” she huffed, changing the subject. She threw her arms up in frustration, sliding down further into the couch.  
“Look who doesn’t want to study now?” he chuckled warmly.  
“We’ve been at this all night, and we haven’t found anything, Damon,” she tossed her book carelessly on the table to prove her point. “I just thought this would be more productive.”  
“Au contraire, Elena,” he disputed with a twinkle in his ocean blue eyes, “just because some piece of information isn’t life changing, doesn’t mean it’s not important. I just read that if a vampire is in a house when it changes ownership, he could experience feelings of suffocation, disorientation, and contortions until his body literally forces him out of the residence. Now that little tidbit could come in handy someday, don’t you think?”  
“Just go back to your book, Damon,” she rolled her eyes at his smart attitude while simultaneously trying to imagine when he could ever actually be in that type of scenario.   
“Oh, I already read through my whole pile,” he cockily contradicted her.   
“Then what are you doing?” her forehead wrinkled in slight confusion as she gestured to the book and paper spread out in front of him. He picked up his notes and wordlessly handed them over to her, fighting back the smirk that was beginning to form on his face. Scanning over the words, she looked back up at him. “These are the lyrics of a Radiohead song,” she baffled.  
“Ah, but which Radiohead song?” he inquired brightly, leaning in intently as if the fate of the world lay on her answer.  
“Damon…” she shook her head, fighting a smile. He was such an enigma to her. One minute he was schooling her on supernatural mythology and the next he was making her guess the words to his favorite song. She never knew quite what he was doing, or what he was feeling. He was like a puzzle whose pieces got scattered; she was constantly finding a new, different part.   
“Tick, tock, Miss. Gilbert,” he chided, pointing to his wrist. “Only ten seconds on the clock.”   
How come I end up where I started  
How come I end up where I went wrong   
Won't take my eyes off the ball again  
You reel me out then you cut the string  
“15 Step!” her head snapped back up in excitement at her recognition.   
“A+” he drawled, while slowly clapping at her accomplishment. His mock behavior was betrayed by the shine in his eyes as they locked with hers, staring straight through her. Her stomach dropped at the heightened energy in the air between them. Her mind became cloudy and all she could think was Damon.  
“We should probably go back to these books,” she stammered, finally breaking his intense gaze and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, “Because as you so kindly pointed out, I’m just not looking for the right kind of facts.”  
“I already finished my pile, and I’m not taking any off of yours,” he said, giving her a pointed look. Taking in a breath, he got to his feet and looked down at her. “Let’s do something. Go somewhere.”  
“What?”   
“C’mon, live a little,” he persuaded. “Let’s…get some ice cream.”  
“Ice cream? That’s your big idea?” she deadpanned, folding her arms in front her, “Don’t you have ice cream here?”  
“No, Elena. I’m not a girl. I don’t have a secret tub of Rocky Road hidden in the back of my freezer,” he snarked. Then after a beat, “Besides, everyone knows ice cream is better in cones.”  
“So I guess we’re going to get some cones,” she said with an amused grin, getting to her feet.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Admit it, I was right! It’s always better in a cone,” Damon cooed triumphantly at her as he was balancing his dark chocolate swirl in one hand and steering Elena’s Ford Focus in the other.   
“It’s always better in a cone,” she surrendered, while taking small, savory licks of her chocolate chip cookie dough.  
“Hey, grab the wheel for me.”  
“What?!” she snapped, her doe eyes widening and her tiny hands flying to her steering wheel in panic.   
“I’m dripping here, Elena!” he whined as some sort of explanation, tilting his head at an awkward angle to catch a stray drop.   
“Keep your hands on the wheel, Damon! It’s the first thing they teach you in driver’s ed.!”  
“Huh. Too bad they didn’t have that class in the 1850s.”  
“I’m going to kill you!” she exclaimed.  
“So the cone has some downsides. Who knew?” Damon shrugged nonchalantly as he took back control of the car. After a moment, he looked over at her. “Oh, don’t start brooding like Stefan. You’ll get premature wrinkles.”  
“Death! And it will be painful! With stakes, and vervain, and fire,” she glared.  
“Please. You couldn’t kill me,” he rolled his eyes, smirking obnoxiously. “Think how much your life would suck without me.”  
She tried to maintain her indignant stance, but at the mention of having to live without him her mask dropped. “It would be pretty boring,” she murmured, relenting. He took his eyes off the road momentarily to gaze at her with gentle eyes. They fell into a companionable silence on their way back to the boarding house as they both finished up their ice cream, but the thought of Damon gone kept eating away at her and it made her uncomfortable. She shifted in her seat so she was facing him. “So…”  
“So?” he glanced over, kinking his brow.  
“What’s going to happen after this whole Klaus mess?” she dodged around the issue.  
“Assuming we don’t die?” he smirked.  
“Would you stay?” she asked in a small voice, averting her gaze.  
His eyes flashed a dark shade and he pressed his lips together in thought. After a second, he let out a breath. “I don’t know.”  
“Damon-”  
“I don’t know, Elena,” he said finitely.   
She let out a disappointed sigh. He obviously wasn’t going to give an answer tonight. “Well, what would you do?” she persevered, changing tactics slightly.   
“Drink. Compel some people. Be my charming, sexy self. The usual,” he winked at her slyly, attempting to lighten the mood and ignoring the appraising look she shot him.  
“I mean, I know Stefan used to want to be a doctor when he was human. Once all this Original stuff is over, you could finally do something you’ve always wanted to do,” she clarified.   
“I never really had any huge life goals, even when I was human. My dad forced me off to war, and when I came back I met Katherine before I could really plan out my life,” he grimaced at the memory, “And we both know how that turned out. 145 years of searching for someone who never gave a damn.”  
She frowned at his painful reminiscence, wishing for the thousandth time there was some way she could seriously punish that bitch. Rested her hand on his forearm, “Well, you pretty much still have an eternity in front of you. It’s not too late to think about the future.”  
“I have thought about law school once or twice. Being a lawyer would be pretty badass,” he mentioned noncommittally.  
“I can totally see you as some big shot prosecutor, commandeering the courtroom and demanding justice,” she began giggling hysterically.  
“What can I say? I like high power positions,” he smiled wolfishly at her.  
“It would be like one of those bad Lifetime movies: reformed vampire compelling his way through the judicial system,” she threw her head back in entertainment, completely oblivious to his comment.  
“Now you’re just being mean,” he pouted.  
“I’m sorry,” she said, her laughter fizzling out, “You’d make a great lawyer, Damon. Really,” she looked at him sincerely.   
“So…”  
“So?” she grinned at the parallel of their previous banter.  
“What about you Miss Gilbert? What are your great plans for the future?”  
“I had always thought I was going to be a writer. I mean, it does run in the Gilbert genes,” she said, pursing her lips. “My mom was actually the first one to push me into writing. She got me my first journal when I was a kid so we could bond…”  
“…but then she died,” Damon breathed sympathetically. She nodded, glancing over to meet the soft blue of his gaze.  
“It just wasn’t the same anymore. I still like to write, but I stopped thinking about it as a career,” she sighed, staring absently out the window. “Although with everything supernatural going on in my life, I really could write an amazing fantasy novel and teach Stephanie Meyer a thing or two,” she turned back to him with a watery smile, trying to make the best of things.   
“Ugh, don’t even get me started on that idiotic book series,” he rolled his eyes, “Your book would kick its ass,” he grinned at her, attempting to lighten her mood. She matched his expression unconsciously, secretly loving the way Damon always knew how to cheer her up so effortlessly. Their eyes broke apart when they pulled up to the stop sign right before the boarding house.   
“So I turn left, and we’ll be right back home.”  
“Wonderful sense of direction you have, Salvatore,” she copied his smirk.  
“Or I could turn right, and then we’d just be driving around for a while,” he propositioned.   
Stefan wouldn’t be back until much later, and really even pretending that either of them would go back to reading Vanessa’s research volumes would be pointless. What was the harm in just driving aimlessly a bit? And, she resigned, she wanted to spend more time with him. “Turn right,” she shrugged.  
“As you wish.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Brother-  
As you can probably tell from your crying girlfriend asleep on the couch, there’s been a bit of an accident. We were driving back from town when some damn squirrel ran out into the road at the last second. I know normally you go for Bullwinkle, but be a champ and hunt down Rocky for me. But I digress. I tried to swerve and regain control of the car, but we were going too fast and hit a tree. Elena had a slight concussion and a fractured wrist, but I gave her some blood, so she should be ok by tomorrow. Her car is in the in the shop and the repairs should be done by Friday.   
Tell her I really am sorry, Stefan.  
Damon  
P.S.-  
Klaus doesn’t seem to be an immediate danger, and since I can’t even prevent Elena from getting into a car accident, I’m going to look up some of my contacts and find out more about this curse. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.


	5. We Can't Get Started

It had been nearly two months since the accident, since Damon left Mystic Falls. Slowly things had started to get back to normal. Elena got her car back, almost in better condition than before, and she and Stefan were doing better. She knew he would never say anything, but she always thought Stefan felt more tense and on edge with Damon around. Now the two were more relaxed and did more stupid teenage things together, like go to the movies and go on dinner dates. But she was constantly getting a weird feeling like something was wrong, that she was missing something. She just wasn’t as happy as she thought she’d be.  
She sighed and recrossed her legs, absentmindedly playing with a loose thread on her paisley pink bedspread. Elena, Stefan, Bonnie, and Alaric had been searching thoroughly, but no one had been able to find out any other new information about the sacrifice. With Katherine still compelled in the tomb and her deal with Elijah ever present in her mind, it seemed like they were at a standstill.   
She wrapped the string around her fingers and yanked it out of her blanket, frustrated. She knew that she should be cherishing this ‘calm before the storm’ period and potentially the last time she had with the people she loved, but she secretly hated it. She was sick of living in constant anxiety, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. Of course, she couldn’t voice these opinions to Stefan or Bonnie; they wouldn’t get it. He would. He would understand. She closed her eyes, letting out a breath.  
She missed him.  
“Elena, are you even listening to me?” Bonnie waved a hand in front of her face.  
Her head snapped up to look at her best friend lounging across from her on the bed. “I’m sorry, Bon. I was just…thinking,” she apologized weakly, trying to force a smile. “What were you talking about?”  
“I was just saying how I feel sorry for Caroline. I know it must have been so hard for her to break it off with Matt.”   
Poor Caroline, she thought. Her relationship with Matt had started to slowly crumble when Matt started becoming suspicious of all the lies she was telling him. Caroline tried so hard to keep Matt safe and out of the supernatural world, but she had finally decided it was better for him if they broke it off.  
“I know she was doing what she thought was right, but maybe she should have tried telling Matt the truth. He might have surprised her,” Elena mused, thinking about how she had eventually understood and accepted the Salvatore brothers when she found out about their vampirism. She found herself gazing out the window absently.   
“It was Caroline’s choice to make, and frankly, I’m kind of glad there are less people to protect with all this craziness going on,” Bonnie confessed.   
“Mhmm,” Elena approved, her thoughts once again wandering. Bonnie squinted her eyes at her friend appraisingly.  
“Elena, what’s going on with you?” she reached out and gently clutched her friend’s forearm, effectively startling her back into reality.   
“Nothing,” Elena insisted. She knew how much Bonnie disliked Damon and didn’t want to discuss with her how much she was worried about him.   
“Elena,” her forehead creased, “you know you can always talk to me.”  
“I’m just…,” she sighed in resignation, “I’m just worried about Damon.”  
“Damon?” her friend’s voice unconsciously laced with skepticism, “Elena, he left. Of his own free will, might I add. I’m sure he’s fine,” Bonnie stated bluntly. Elena pursed her lips. She knew Bonnie wouldn’t understand. She had been thrilled when Damon left. Not only that but she, Stefan, and Caroline had all adamantly blamed the car accident on him when it was her who had wanted to keep driving. They could have been home safe at the boarding house if she hadn’t told him to turn.   
“Could you please just do a locator spell?” she pleaded, breaking out of Bonnie’s grasp. “I just need to be sure he’s safe. That’s all.”  
Bonnie’s eyes broke away from Elena’s and wandered skittishly around the room as she internally debated her friend’s request. Finally after a pause, “Okay, fine.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Pushing open the door, Elena was temporarily blinded by the sharp contrast of the dark interior from the bright southern sun. She blinked rapidly in a vain attempt to regain her sight. When Bonnie had finally revealed the elder Salvatore’s whereabouts, Elena didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the bitter irony of its obviousness. When Bonnie had asked if she wanted a ride to school before she left that night, Elena had just smiled and shook her head. She hadn’t mentioned that she wouldn’t be at school. Of course she had to come here; this was their place.  
Walking further into the bar, her eyes began to scan the room. She noticed that even though the establishment still retained its Georgia charm, it was beginning to look a little more run down since the last time she was there. The paint on the walls was starting to fade and the wood floorboards squeaked underneath her feet. Then she suddenly caught sight of the leather jacket clad figure she was looking for. As she slowly approached him, she could tell the moment he sensed her presence by how his lean back tensed and then almost immediately relaxed again. Taking a seat on the stool to his left, she placed her head in her hands and let her eyes fall on his profile.  
“So what’s a girl have to do to get a drink around here?” she flirted teasingly. He finally looked up from his half empty glass of scotch to quirk an eyebrow at her.   
“Anything for you, Miss Gilbert,” he mocked, his blue eyes dancing. Gulping down the last of his drink, he turned his head searchingly to flag down the new bartender since Bree’s…absence. The short blonde woman walked over, wiping her hands on a towel.   
“Another refill, Damon?”  
“Actually, Jean, we’ll take two beers,” he told the middle aged woman, looking at Elena challengingly.  
“Time out for five minutes,” she told him. “Remember?”   
She just wanted to relax and have a stress-free good time with him, without having to worry about sacrifices, Originals, or crazy witch spells. Like their last trip to Georgia. Except for the part when she had to save his life. They didn’t need a repeat of that today. He nodded his head acceptingly and turned back to Jean.  
“Can we also get two cheeseburgers and fries?” he ordered. Breaking out into a smirk, “She’ll have extra pickles on hers.”  
“Damon!” she shoved his arm, laughing. “I hope you know you’re eating those.”  
Throughout the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, the two of them continued to talk lightly and freely about anything and everything except the increasing danger they were all in. They just knocked back drinks, played a few rounds of pool, and enjoyed themselves. Damon didn’t ask why she came and she didn’t ask he left.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Damon sat at the bar drinking his…fourth? Sixth beer? And while he wasn’t half as drunk as Elena was, he was still pretty tipsy adding in the scotch he’d had that morning and all the rounds of tequila shots they’d shared. He smirked to himself. He still couldn’t believe she’d actually come here to find him. He wouldn’t be so optimistic to believe she actually missed him and needed to see him, but it still made him feel pretty damn good. Maybe she really just needed a break from Mystic Falls. Looking at her, he was immediately able to tell how exhausted she was. He wondered if she told anyone what she was doing or if she just left. Damon was sure that with the way Elena attracted danger, people would be worried about her. Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy …and Stefan. He scowled.  
“Hey, Damon. Where’s your girl?” Jean asked.  
You’ve gotta be kidding me. He straightened up in his stool and scanned the crowd for any sign of Elena. He tried to not let panic seize him as he remembered Lexi’s boyfriend grabbing her from this very bar last year. Can this girl get in any more trouble? “That’s what I’m going to find out…” he muttered, getting up to begin his search.  
Making his way towards the dance floor, Damon pushed his way through the throngs of couples swaying together to the music. Just as he thought he should get seriously concerned, he visibly relaxed at the sight of Elena leaving the ladies restroom and stumbling towards him. However, his mouth quickly twisted back into a frown once he noticed the mascara stained tears dripping down her cheeks and her heavy, unstable breathing. Increasing his pace, he finally met her in the middle of the floor.  
“Hey. Elena. What’s wrong?” he rested his hands on her shoulders and bent his head to catch her eyes.  
“Why?” she blubbered, rubbing furiously at her eyes. “Why did you leave?”  
Damon’s head shot back up in shock at her words. She was this upset over him? He furrowed his brow. It didn’t make sense. “Elena…” he started.  
“No!” she cried, her tiny hands balling into fists and haphazardly beating his chest repeatedly in frustration. That didn’t hurt him as much as her drunken sobs. “Why…did you…leave me?”   
He stayed silent until she tiredly sunk into him, clutching at his shirt. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her head to rest on his shoulder. “I never meant to hurt you,” he whispered in her ear while slowly stroking her back, still slightly confused at her actions.   
“You never even said goodbye,” she weakly murmured.  
“I’m sorry, Elena,” he consoled her, tucking a stray piece hair behind her ear.   
“Just don’t do it again. Please,” she released her grasp on his shirt in favor of wrapping her arms around him.   
“Promise.” And there they stood, silently locked in a comforting embrace, while couples in love twirled and spun all around them. 

If this was our last dance  
I’d wait in the rain  
Just to see your face  
If this was our last chance  
I’d ask you to stay  
For one last dance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Hello, brother.”  
Stefan spun around from his full length mirror to see Damon leaning casually against his door frame. “Damon…” he started. Pausing to collect his thoughts, he sighed. “What are you doing here?”  
His brother sauntered into the threshold of his bedroom, quirking an eyebrow. “I live here, Stefan. Or have you so soon forgotten?”  
“I mean, why did you come back?” Stefan hated to admit it, but while he did love Damon, everything in his life seemed much less complicated without him around.   
“Well. My search was a dead end so I figured instead of driving around purposelessly, I’d be much more useful back on the home front,” Damon explained airily. “Not that I have to justify myself to you, Stefan.”  
“I thought you left because you thought it was best for Elena?” he furrowed his brow, trying to understand his brother’s motives. His mind recalled the brief letter of explanation Damon left eluding to an almost feeling of failure at his inability to keep her safe.   
“Let’s just say that’s been resolved, and I was wrong,” he vaguely answered while examining the knickknacks on Stefan’s dresser. He briefly glanced up at him and smirked, daring him to ask what he meant.   
Stefan pursed his lips. He had deduced that when Elena skipped school last week she went to find him, but she wouldn’t say where he was or what happened. He wanted to trust her, but it was hard when Damon was involved. He sighed. He was sure his brother was probably baiting him. “Are you sure Elena will even be happy you’re back?”  
“We’ll just have to see, now won’t we?” Damon approached him, placing his hands on his shoulders and spinning him back towards the mirror. “Now why are you so dressed up, little bro?”  
Stefan stared back at his reflection, taking in the ebony suit and Kelly green tie and vest he was wearing. “Today’s Alaric and Jenna’s wedding,” he informed smoothly.  
“Really?” Damon grinned, his cerulean eyes sparkling. “I’ve got to go send Ric my condolences.”  
Stefan wanted to tell his brother to stay away from Elena there, that she and him were finally in a really good place. But he knew Ric was secretly disappointed when he thought Damon wasn’t going to be at his wedding. Even though neither of them would ever admit it, the two were probably the closest thing to best friends they’d have. He slowly nodded. “I’m sure he’d like that.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
As the maid of honor, it was Elena’s duty to be exceptionally early for the wedding and make sure that everything was set up perfectly. Jenna had decided that it would be beautiful if the wedding ceremony could be held at the Falls near all the trees and ponds, and Elena had to agree with her. It looked gorgeous.  
Sitting gingerly in the grass, she let her hand run back and forth across the water. Thinking of Stefan’s request that morning, she sighed. There were only a few days left of school and then it was summer break. He had asked if she wanted to go away with him for a few weeks, maybe to her parents’ lake house. Elena loved how considerate he was being by offering to give her a vacation, but she just wasn’t sure. She hadn’t been to her lake house since her mom and dad died, and she thought it might bring up too many memories.  
Her hand momentarily stilled when her eyes caught the reflection of a man in the water. Not just a man…Damon? She shook her head. Of course he wasn’t here. Wincing, Elena remembered when she had gotten home and sobered up last week. She was so humiliated. She couldn’t believe she actually cried on his shoulder and begged him not to leave her again. Damon must have been appalled.   
“Elena…?”  
“Damon!” She popped up clumsily to face him, smoothing down stray wrinkles in her emerald green strapless cocktail dress. “What are you doing here?”  
“Hello to you, too,” he chuckled, his soft eyes taking in her appearance. “You look beautiful.”   
“Thank you,” she murmured, still dumbstruck that he was standing right in front of her in a charcoal black suit. “What are doing here?”  
“I came back,” he answered nonchalantly, with a shrug of his shoulders.   
“You came back,” she reiterated under her breath. For me, she thought. Isn’t this what she had wanted? No! She didn’t want Damon to think she was some whiny little girl that needed him. She didn’t want him to feel obligated to her. “But why?” she stuttered.   
“Just wanted to,” he smirked slightly.  
He wanted to. He wanted to come back.  
Before Elena knew what she was doing, she had launched herself at him, bringing her lips to his. She felt Damon turn slightly rigid from surprise, but soon he was kissing her back just as hungrily. His hands found their way to the small of her back, pulling her deeper into him, while she dug her fingers into the black tangles of hair at the nape of his neck. She lost herself. All there was in that moment was Damon and Elena. The way their tongues melted together, the way she fit in his arms. She had never felt like that with Matt, or…  
“Oh my God,” she yanked herself away from him in panic.   
…Stefan.  
How could she do that? To her amazing, caring boyfriend? With his brother?   
“Elena…,” Damon reached a hand out for her arm, his face pinched with guilt and hurt.  
“Please,” she breathed, turning so she didn’t have to face him. That was too hard. She agitatedly ran a hand through her hair. “Just stop.”   
“Alright,” he sighed.  
“I’ve gotta go,” she muttered, already starting to run away. She had completely lost track of time. The ceremony would be starting soon, and she needed to be there for Jenna.   
She faltered and briefly turned back to him. “Welcome back!” she shouted with a smile, causing Damon to break into a watery grin.


	6. Hazy, Crazy Summer Days

Elena pursed her lips, grasping at what Stefan had just explained to her. She shifted on the plush leather couch and looked up at her boyfriend, trying to read his expression. However his face was serious and pensive as usual, only with slight hints of guilt. “It sounds like…” she stammered, “you were almost as bad as Damon.”  
“No,” he sighed, looking away from her. “I was worse.”  
Her frown deepened at that thought. Stefan sat down on the coffee table in front of her, gently placing his palms on her knees. “I know I should have explained all this to you sooner, but I thought you’d be upset,” his eyes bore into her, trying to determine her emotion.   
Her expression softened as she met his gaze. “I can handle it, Stefan. I mean, sort of but…” she trailed off, not being able to articulate what she wanted. “It’s the past, right?”  
“Yes, of course,” he broke out into a smile. Leaning in slightly, he cupped her cheek affectionately. Elena pulled back, placing a hand on his forearm. “I’m sorry, Stefan,” she tilted her head apologetically. “I just need a little more time to process this.”  
“Of course,” he nodded disappointedly, pulling back from her. With a gentle squeeze of her knee, he got up and left her to her thoughts.  
Elena sighed and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She needed to talk to someone about this. When she had found that old journal of Jonathon Gilbert’s in her parent’s trap closet, she was interested in finding out more about her family history and possibly vampire folklore. She definitely was not prepared to read about how her boyfriend was once a vicious vampire ‘ripper’. Scrolling through her contacts, she unconsciously landed on D – Damon Salvatore.  
She hesitated and then placed her phone back down next to her. Throughout the time she’d been at the lake house with Stefan, she’d called Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy, Jenna, and even Alaric. But she couldn’t seem to muster up the courage to talk to the elder Salvatore. She knew she was being insane. ‘They were friends, right?’ she told herself, staring down at her phone indecisively. ‘Yeah, friends that make out behind her boyfriend’s back,’ she groaned and sunk down into the couch cushions.   
She could probably force herself to text him something, anything to break the ice, but she knew Damon hated texting. It was one of the few old fashioned quirks he had. Giving up, she picked up her phone and scrolled back up to B – Bonnie Bennett. As she listened to the rings and waited for Bonnie to answer, she slumped.   
She was such a coward.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“I’m so glad you’re back!” Caroline squealed, hugging Elena tightly after meeting her in front of their booth at the Grill.   
“It’s good to see you too, Car,” Elena grunted from her friend’s utter lack of awareness at her own strength.   
“Let me get a good look at you,” she trilled, stepping back and twirling her finger. With roll of her eyes, Elena complied and obnoxiously spun around under the blonde’s scrutiny.   
“You’re tanner,” she confirmed authoritatively with a cross of her arms, “and your hair got lighter.”   
“It was only a few weeks,” Elena smiled, sliding into her seat at the table as the busboy brought them water glasses.   
“Well, it was still too long,” she complained, sitting across from her. “So much has happened!”  
“Really?” Elena’s head perked up.  
“With my love life,” Caroline amended.  
“Didn’t you and Matt break up?”  
“Yeah, but you know how I’ve kinda been helping Tyler with his transformations and stuff? During the last full moon we got closer and, I don’t know, shared a moment,” she confessed. “The next day, he came to my house to thank me and tell me how much I mean to him. How sweet is that?”  
Elena nodded, but try as she might, she couldn’t seem to focus on her friend. She swirled around the straw in her glass absently, her ice cubes crunching together.   
“And then, well, we kissed. And it was really, really amazing, Elena,” Caroline sighed. “But he’s Matt’s best friend. I can’t tear them apart like that…”  
Tilting her head up, Elena suddenly caught a glimpse of Damon. With a young blonde woman. They were turned towards each other, laughing and drinking and…did he just kiss her neck? She dropped her hand from her straw, trying to discreetly shift to get a better look.  
“Guess you dodged a bullet on that one, huh?”  
“Hmm?” Elena snapped her attention back to the young vampire.  
“Damon,” she clarified. “I saw you staring at him and his corporate ho.”  
“His - what?” Elena wrinkled her face and laughed. Then thinking back, “Wait, what do you mean I dodged a bullet?”  
“It was pretty obvious you and Damon had gotten a lot closer, but then suddenly you ran off with Stefan and he found the blonde,” she shrugged.  
“We weren’t closer,” she denied. “I mean, nothing happened.”  
“Oookay,” Caroline rolled her eyes and looked down at their food the waiter just brought.   
“But when you say ‘he found her,’ you don’t actually mean they’re dating, do you?” she pushed. She couldn’t help herself. If Damon had suddenly grown serious about this woman, she wanted to know.   
“I don’t know, Elena. It’s not like I’m close enough with Damon to ask.”  
“I just don’t think she’s good enough for him,” she stated airily, popping a French fry in her mouth.  
“She looks pretty good to me,” Caroline raised an eyebrow.  
“You know what I mean, Car,” she deadpanned.  
“Well,” she paused, and then let out a breath. “I guess I was wrong.”  
“About what?”  
“You’re still hung up on him,” she pursed her lips.  
“Who, Damon?” Elena gave her an incredulous look.” No!”  
“Oh come on, Elena. The way you guys always stare at each other, and get all jealous and how there’s so much damn sexual tension between -”  
“No!” Elena shook her head vehemently, trying desperately to ignore what her friend was saying. She thought she had buried her attraction to Damon pretty well, but apparently she was a lot more transparent then she thought.   
“Look, honey,” Caroline reached over and placed her hand over Elena’s. “I get it. I’ve been where you are. Hell, I am where you are. But Stefan’s my friend and Damon’s…well, Damon, but,” she stopped, attempting to think of redeemable qualities.  
“Caroline-”  
“Nah!” she held up her finger in silence. “Let me finish.”  
Taking another bite of her burger, she sighed.   
“Regardless,” Caroline continued, “Stefan’s your boyfriend and I know you have feelings for Damon, but you can’t keep going on like this.”  
“I’m not trying to do anything,” she threw her hands up and sunk down in the booth.   
“Elena, I’m not trying to be mean here,” the vampire exclaimed seriously,” but eventually you’re going to have to choose.”  
Elena looked back up to the bar, only to see Damon leading the blonde out the door. She crossed her arms and averted her gaze to the window. Letting out a breath, her face fell. She didn’t know what to do.  
“If you want Damon, go get him!” Caroline kept going obliviously, throwing up her hand. “If you want Stefan, fine! But one day, Stefan’s gonna realize you kind of treat him like trash, and Damon may be annoyingly devoted to you but I don’t think he takes too kindly to rejection either.”  
As Caroline finished her rant and sat back in the booth, Elena frowned. She was beginning to realize she had quite an emotional dilemma on her hands.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Elena stood in front of the boarding house door hesitantly. She wasn’t even sure exactly why she had come, maybe to help her sort out her thoughts somehow. Ever since her conversation with Caroline the day before, she had been suffering from inner turmoil over her feelings for the Salvatores. And in the end she had gotten nowhere. Stefan was still her boyfriend and Damon was still…well, there was definitely something between her and Damon. The kiss they shared proved that. Because try as she might, she couldn’t forget it. It was that amazing. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she pushed open the door and entered into the foyer.  
Walking in towards the lounge area, Elena immediately spotted Damon stretched out on the antique, leather sofa nursing a glass of bourbon and a first edition copy of The Great Gatsby. She couldn’t help how her lips quirked upwards into a grin at how relaxed he looked as she made her way over to stand in front of the couch. However, she began shifting her wait back and forth as moments passed in silence. She knew he was completely aware of her presence but –   
“So you’re back,” Damon stated, glancing up from the top of his book to look her up and down.   
“Yep,” she shrugged, shoving her hands in her pockets. Tilting her head at him, “Didn’t you notice Stefan come home?”  
“I ignore my little brother if at all possible,” he set the novel down on the coffee table and got to his feet to freshen up his drink. “How was it?”  
“It was…,” Elena stuttered, thinking of all the information Stefan had told her, “interesting.”   
“So. How are you?” she asked lamely, trying to get past the thick tension between them. The tension that happens when you kiss someone and blow them off. She sighed.   
“How am I?” he paused to look at her, the tumbler still poised in the air and ready to pour. “I’m irritated. Ever since Katherine bailed-”  
“What? Katherine’s in the tomb, Damon,” she furrowed her brow in confusion.  
“No…she’s not,” he gave her a weird look and topped off his glass. “Once we killed Elijah-”  
“You killed Elijah? What?!” she cried.  
“Elena! Didn’t Stefan tell you any of this?” Damon narrowed his eyes at her confusion, but then they immediately widened in sudden realization.  
“No. He didn’t,” she hissed. She couldn’t believe that Stefan had done this yet again. He was always keeping information from her and sheltering her from things he didn’t think she could handle. Well that was her call to make. “Tell me.”  
Damon let out a sigh and sat back down with his drink, gesturing for Elena to follow his lead. She folded her arms in annoyance, but took a seat at the opposite end of the sofa. “While you were gone, daddy dearest came to visit and-”  
“John was here?”  
“Don’t interrupt,” Damon waved her off. “So John came. He gave me this magic Original-killing dagger and split. Only we found out later from some journal Stefan found that if a vampire tries to use the dagger they’ll die along with the Original. So basically your father was trying to get me killed. Again,” he rolled his eyes at that.   
“But you didn’t. You’re fine.”  
“I’m fine, Elena,” he confirmed.  
“I can’t believe Stefan found all that information in the Gilbert journals and didn’t tell me!” she sunk down into the cushions, frustrated.  
“That’s my brother, St. Stefan the idiot,” Damon snarked.  
“So then what happened?” Elena looked back up at him weakly.  
“Ric killed him. He’s downstairs in the cellar,” he explained matter of factly. “Apparently once Elijah was dead, the compulsion he had on Katherine broke, so she left Mystic Falls. I definitely don’t think we’ve seen the last of her though.”  
She sat there processing in silence for a second. Elijah was dead. Katherine was out there somewhere. Stefan was still keeping secrets from him. She let her head fall back on the couch. This wasn’t what she came here for. Actually, what did she come here for? She looked back up to see Damon standing next to the fireplace, lost in thought. She got up and walked over to stand next to him.  
“So you never answered how you’ve been,” she asked gently, ghosting a hand on his shoulder.  
Damon whirled around to face her, his eyes burning, so they were only inches apart. “Elena, what are you doing? You come in here pretending to be concerned about Elijah and Katherine, and how I’ve been,” he sneered. Taking a breath, he caught her eyes with his. “We kissed, Elena. And if you want to forget about it, fine. But I can’t.”  
So here it was. The big elephant in the room; the cause of all the friction between them. Elena didn’t know what to say to fix this and make it better. She deflated, her doe eyes melting. “Damon, what do you want from me?”  
“What do I want from you? Elena!” he exclaimed, grasping her shoulders. “I want to know where we stand! What the hell is going on with us?”  
“What do you mean ‘where we stand,’ Damon?” she stepped back from him, suddenly angry herself. Face scrunched, “I saw you at the Grill yesterday.”  
“Okay, so?” he furrowed his brow at her.  
“I saw you with the blonde.”  
“Andie?”  
“Yes, Andie!” she threw her hands up vehemently, glaring at him. “You have a girlfriend, Damon!”  
He stared at her for a second and then burst into a fit of cynical laughter. “Really, Elena. Your jealousy is flattering but don’t think I’m the only roadblock here,” his tone suddenly becoming all too serious again as he took a step right in front of her to hiss in her face, “I didn’t get one call, text, email, or fucking carrier pigeon the whole time you were gone. I wasn’t going to sit around and wait like your damn puppy.”  
Their noses were almost touching and their chests mere inches apart. Damon’s shallow breathing hit her face and sent warm shivers down her spine. Despite how desperately angry she was at him in that moment, all she could imagine was being in his arms and having his hands caressing her curves…his gentle lips on hers…Snap out of it. Looking up into his stormy eyes, cold with fury, she felt herself tense again.  
“The phone goes both ways, you know,” she bit back.   
“You ran. The ball was in your court,” he waved her off flippantly, turning to get another refill. Probably a double this time.   
She caught up with him, catching him by the arm. Gently, “when you left, I went after you.”  
“Don’t do that,” he snapped, shaking his arm out of her grasp. “And that was an entirely different situation. I left to protect you.”  
“Protect me?” she shouted in disgust. “Bullshit, Damon! You were afraid, and you know it.”  
“Don’t tell me how I feel, Elena,” he growled in a warning tone, finally turning back to face her.   
“Goddamnit, Damon!” she cried in frustration, pushing on his chest. “Why won’t you ever just let me all the way in?”   
“Well, it doesn’t really matter, does it?” he answered coldly.  
“What? Of course it does!”   
“Are you still with Stefan?”  
Stefan. During the whole argument with Damon, she had completely forgotten about her boyfriend. She was suddenly very grateful that he was obviously not home.   
“Elena,” Damon pressed. “Are you still dating my brother?”  
“Yes,” she answered quietly. “I’m still with Stefan.”  
“Then it doesn’t matter,” he whispered sadly, just loud enough for her to hear, before he turned towards the front entryway.   
“Damon!” she shouted after him, her shoulders falling in defeat.  
“There’s really nothing else for us to say to each other, Elena,” Damon stated calmly before he shut the heavy oak door behind him. She sank back down on the couch tiredly and cradled her head in her hands. She tried to close her eyes to slow her rapidly beating heart, but all she could see was Damon and the sharp blue of his eyes.   
God help her, she was in love with him.


	7. One's Got Class

Jeremy and Elena were sleepily lounging over the kitchen counter eating cereal and drowning in dark coffee when Jenna came storming in. She slammed her phone down on the counter and groaned, frustrated. “That was Mr. Bennett on the phone. They’re going on vacation to visit family for a week, and he wants me to water his prized begonias while he’s gone,” she closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. “He has a strict schedule: a light sprinkling for ten minutes, three times a day. How am I supposed to manage that? With writing thank you notes from the wedding and a meeting with my thesis adviser…”  
She paused and looked up to her niece and nephew expectantly. When Jeremy and Elena caught on to her train of thought, they shook their heads vigorously.  
“No, no, no,” Elena objected.  
“Not a chance,” Jeremy deadpanned.   
“Come on, guys!” Jenna whined. “Please?”  
“Ok, Elena,” Jeremy stated, digging his spoon back into his cereal bowl. “S’all you.”  
“Why is it me?” she turned to her brother, frowning. “Why can’t you do it?”  
“While you were off at the lake house with your boyfriend, I was the only one here when Ric and Jenna got back from their post honeymoon bliss,” he gave a pointed look to his aunt. “We have thin walls, Jenna. I think I’m scarred for life.”  
“Oh my God,” Jenna’s hands flew to her mouth in embarrassment.  
“Fine, I’ll do it,” Elena rolled her eyes.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Sitting on the Bennett’s front steps, Elena checked her watch for the third time. She was growing increasingly restless as the afternoon sun was beating down on her olive skin. Looking around her best friend’s yard, she admired the landscape. She had to admit that the flowers and shrubbery were exceptional. She could see why Mr. Bennett was so proud.  
When ten minutes had finally passed, she hoisted herself up and made her way over to the spout of the sprinkler. Picking up the lever and jamming it into the mechanism, she turned hard. Water suddenly began shooting out even faster and harder, quickly getting all over her v neck tee as she jumped back in surprise.   
“Damn it!” she cried, trying again desperately to turn the spout off. She angrily threw it back in the grass when the water did nothing but continue to spurt out everywhere. At this point, her hair was already beginning to drip and her soaked clothes clung to every inch of her skin. Running under the protection of Bonnie’s porch, she pulled out her cell phone in desperation. “Please answer…” she pleaded to herself.  
Stefan. I need your help. She texted furiously. I think I broke Bonnie’s sprinkler. PLEASE come as soon as you can.  
Elena bounced on the balls of her feet impatiently for her boyfriend to arrive, but after a few minutes with no response she started running down the street in search of any pedestrian that could help her. Her tiny hands balled into fists as she made her way towards the center of town and let her eyes wander to someone suitable. However, her breath caught in her throat when she noticed a very familiar vampire exiting out the door of the Mystic Grill.   
She momentarily slumped as she internally debated whether she should go up to him. Staring at the pavement, Elena quickly rejected that idea. Damon was hurt and mad at her for rejecting him, and she couldn’t really blame him. Not only that but ever since she had come to terms with her love for him, she was determined to keep her distance. She was still Stefan’s girlfriend and she was definitely not going to be another Katherine. Although she admittedly was getting pretty close to it.  
Wincing, she finally tilted her head back up intent on continuing on when she saw Damon coming right toward her. “Damon,” she exclaimed breathlessly, her eyes widening. She thought he would be avoiding her like the plague, not seeking her out. She wasn’t prepared to face him again. She had no idea what to say after their last heated encounter.  
“Elena,” he greeted in a carefully calm manner. Taking a closer look at his demeanor, she realized that he was being slightly guarded around her as well. “Nice look. Very ‘Blue Crush,’’’ he gestured to her still wet attire with a small smirk on his face.  
“Very funny,” she conceded dryly, although secretly trying not to smile. Even when her and Damon were fighting and avoiding each other, she thought, he could still cheer her up. She pursed her lips and shook her head at that. “I have to go,” she muttered.  
“Hey, is something wrong?” Damon narrowed his eyes in concern.  
She let out a breath and plastered on a smile. “Nope, nothing,” she replied airily, pushing past him towards town. Before she even made two steps, Damon had grabbed a hold of her wrist effectively holding her in place.  
“Elena,” he looked down at her, raising his eyebrows.  
She broke out of his grip and exasperatedly let her hands fall. Elena bit her lip hesitantly, not wanting to burden him with her problems, but finally she confessed. “Bonnie and her dad went on vacation, but he’s really, really into yard care and I said I’d water all his plants for him. They can only be watered in ten minute increments otherwise the lawn drowns, and Bonnie will probably put some kind of spell on me,” Elena kept rambling on, getting increasingly more panicked, while Damon just grinned at her amusedly. “And the thing is stuck, and it won’t turn off, and I have to find someone! Matt, or Ric, or…”  
At this point, Damon had heard enough. He just rolled his eyes and jogged straight passed her back toward the Bennett’s.   
“Where are going?” she whipped around, following him all the way there. “You don’t have to do this! I didn’t ask you to do this!”  
When Damon reached Bonnie’s yard, his eyes scanned the lawn and quickly found the lever. Picking it up, he jammed it into the spout. And with a good twist, all the sprinklers slowly died all around him. He turned back to face her, “All done.”  
“You made it look so easy,” she said weakly, staring up at him. He was now pretty wet himself, although not quite as much as she was. They made quite a pair, she thought.  
“That’s because it was,” he teased her, his mischievous eyes sparkling.   
“Seriously?” she gasped in disbelief, a huge grin spreading across her face. She went to slap him on the arm playfully, but she felt a loud squelch underneath her Converses as she slipped on the wet grass. Falling into Damon, she grabbed onto his arms and they both toppled to the ground.  
Lifting her head from his chest, her eyes trained on the small water droplet making its way down Damon’s jawline and how the way pieces of his normally wild black hair were sticking to his wet face. Damon’s hands were resting on the curves of her hips, the pads of his thumbs rubbing against the damp flesh where her shirt had ridden up. She was suddenly very aware of their legs tangled and their bodies pressed together. Her face flushed and she knew she should be pulling away, but the way Damon was staring at her made her heart melt and her body catch on fire. “Thank you,” she whispered hazily, as she cupped his cheek with her palm.  
“You’re very welcome,” he murmured back, lifting his head to meet hers. Their lips were a hairbreadth away, his breath hot on her skin, when Elena’s phone alert broke the moment. Elena let out a sigh as he rested his forehead against hers.  
“I should get that,” she muttered, sitting up on his lap to fish her phone out of her back pocket, all while being careful not to move around too much and promote further arousal from either of them. Looking down at the screen, she balked. I’m sure you didn’t break it, don’t worry. I’m on my way!  
“That’s Stefan,” she gulped. Looking down, she knew that this would ruin what they just shared. “I texted him earlier to come help and he just got the message, so he’s…”  
“Coming to save the day,” Damon finished shortly, his eyes hardening. “I got it.”  
They both broke apart and got to their feet in awkward silence.   
“Damon, I’m sorry,” she said finally, not really sure all of what it encompassed.   
“Just don’t, ok?” his eyes softened, resigned. “Nothing’s really changed.”  
“Don’t say that,” she grasped his forearm comfortingly. Elena hated how she seemed to be always hurting Damon, and by extension herself, lately.   
“Elena,” he said sternly, shaking her off. “We’re at a standstill.”  
“I, uhmm…”she absently picked a stray piece of grass off her arm. She really didn’t know what to say because it was true. They were at a standstill. She loved Damon, but she was with Stefan. And she really wasn’t even sure if or when that would change.   
“Yep,” Damon nodded, pursing his lips. He turned and angrily kicked off the entire spout of the sprinkler system. “Let’s see Hero Boy try and fix that,” he stalked off without a second glance, leaving Elena standing alone in despair as the sprinklers rained down around her.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Hey, Mr. Sommers,” Damon smirked, opening the boarding house door to the history teacher.   
“I told you not to call me that,” Alaric muttered under his breath as he passed his…friend, he supposed, to get into the house. “”You really aren’t as funny as you think you are, you know.”  
“Shut up, I’m hilarious,” Damon exaggerated, closing the large wooden door behind him and following Ric further into the living room. “So what do I owe the displeasure?”  
“Is this your wedding gift?” he asked, holding up a large bottle of expensive bourbon. “There was no card attached.”  
“I figured if I got you your own, you’d stop drinking mine,” Damon quirked an eyebrow at him from across the room. “You came all the way here for that?”  
“No, I assumed it was from you,” Ric confessed, going over to help himself to a drink. “But Jenna had to be sure so she could finish writing thank you notes. I told her she could take your note and stick it up your-”  
“Hey now,” Damon admonished sarcastically. “Where are your manners, young man?”  
Ric turned to glare at him as he finished pouring the tumbler and then made his way toward the fireplace. “I never understood why you always have a fire going. It has to be ninety degrees outside.”  
“You wouldn’t,” Damon rolled his eyes. He was about to elaborate when the two were interrupted by Andie flouncing down the stairs, tying her scarf in a loose knot around her neck.   
“I have to go, Damon,” she announced, making her way over to him. “They need me at the station.”  
“Of course they do,” he cooed to her, as if talking to a small child and not a grown woman. Placing his hand on her back, he led her to the front door.  
“I had a good time,” she stood in the open doorway, absently fixing the collar of his shirt. “Will I see you later?”  
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he ushered her out, abruptly slamming the door behind him.   
“I didn’t even know she was here,” Ric commented bewilderedly as Damon made his way back into the main room.   
“Yeah, she’s kinda like that sometimes,” Damon said offhandedly, going to get himself a drink and grabbing Ric’s empty glass on the way. “You get used to it.”  
“So that was…”  
“Andie Starr, Action News” Damon answered theatrically, hand gestures and all.  
“That’s not what it’s called,” Ric deadpanned, accepting his now full glass that Damon handed him and sat down on the couch.  
“Yeah, I just like saying it,” he waved him off as he too took his drink and joined him on the opposing couch. They sat in companionable silence for a moment as Ric hesitated with his thoughts, but he finally spoke up about what was bothering him.  
“Andie was wearing a scarf when she left…,” he paused for a moment, not really knowing how to continue.  
“I don’t know, Ric. The girl loves scarves. She’s practically obsessed with them,” he gave him a pointed look, alerting him that he was wandering into dangerous territory. Ric sighed and decided to take a slightly, hopefully, safer approach.   
“Damon, sometimes you have to think more about how you treat people,” he advised him. “I mean, if you care about Andie-”  
“I don’t care about her,” Damon corrected, furrowing his brows as he took another sip of scotch. “I don’t even know where she lives.”  
“What? Seriously?” Ric sputtered, but then he remembered that this was Damon. He rubbed his temples in frustration. Sometimes he couldn’t believe the man sitting front of him was a 170 year old vampire; he acted like an indignant, selfish jackass. “Well, if you don’t care about her, why are you with her?”   
“She’s a good...,” he tilted his head up, trying to find the right word, “distraction.”  
“Distraction?” Ric wrinkled his face at that and he stood up, pacing in agitation. “Damon, I know your moral limits are much lower than everyone else’s, but you can’t just feed on and compel that poor woman! You’re basically treating her like trash!”  
“Hey,” he sneered, rising to his feet and standing in front of Alaric. “Don’t tell me how I’m supposed to treat my girlfriend, alright?”  
“Does this even make you happy?” he let out a breath and let his shoulders fall. “Going along in a relationship where you’re messing with a girl’s mind and body?”  
“I’m doing alright, thanks,” he snapped with a calculated front of indifference.   
“There are plenty of girls out there, Damon,” he told his friend. “I’m sure you could at least find one that accepts you, that you care about.”  
“It’s not that easy,” Damon growled. “The girls that I like don’t give a damn about me.”  
“So this is about Elena,” Ric softly deduced, assuming as much. He wasn’t an idiot. He saw the way the two of them looked at each other when they thought no one was looking. He knew they had a connection and if he knew anything about Damon, it was that he was most likely in love with her.   
“I’m not talking about this with you,” Damon rolled his eyes.  
“I know it’s weird,” he continued. “Elena’s my student and niece, or stepdaughter, I guess. Regardless-”  
“Excuse me, but I’ve had about enough Doctor Phil moments for the day. I’m sure you can find your way out,” Damon slammed down his empty glass on the table and made his way to the stairs.  
“Damon!” Ric shouted after him. “Seriously? Get back here!”   
“Nope!” he heard echoing from up the stairwell. He rolled his eyes and huffed as he left, slamming the door on his way out.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Could I get a Grande nonfat soy latte?” Andie Starr purred to the Starbucks employee, Ted, the next morning. “And could you make it without foam? I’m feeling a little bloaty this morning.”  
She paid the young teenager with a crisp twenty for her drink and stood back from the line. Adjusting her floral scarf and blazer, she looked around at the other customers waiting for their early morning caffeine. Her eyes landed on the young brunette standing next to her. Andie knew she recognized her from somewhere, she just couldn’t place it. She’d been forgetting a lot of things lately. She furrowed her brow. Jenna’s niece, Damon’s brother’s girlfriend…?  
“Excuse me?” she tapped the girl on the shoulder to catch her attention. “You’re Elena, right?”  
“Umm, yeah,” the girl turned to face her, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear in confusion.   
“I’m Andie Starr. Damon’s girlfriend?” she clarified. She stuck her hand out to her to shake. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”   
“Yeah, a pleasure,” Elena ignored her outstretched arm as her face twisted into a scowl. Andie folded her arms and turned away from her. She had no idea why she was suddenly upset. Maybe she was just having a bad hair day. Andie had those every once in a while. Although not today. Her hair looked fabulous today. Lost in thought, when she heard the barista call out the next drink, she went to grab it.   
“Hey,” Elena snapped, approaching from behind her. “That’s mine.”  
“What?”  
“That coffee?” she pointed out. “It’s mine, not yours.”  
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Andie handed it to her willingly.   
“Look, I know you think you can just waltz into town and take whatever you want from people, but you can’t,” Elena angrily stated.   
“That’s not my intention at all,” she denied, awkwardly shifting back and forth.   
“Of course it is!” Elena yelled back.   
“I don’t know what I did to make you so upset,” she retaliated, confused and irritated that this teenage girl was shouting at her in the middle of a Starbucks, “but you need to relax.”  
“Just stay away from me!” Elena snarled, throwing her hands up. “And keep your grubby hands off my…coffee! It’s my coffee! MINE!”   
“Elena-”she called after her as the brunette stormed toward the exit.   
“And by the way? Bloaty isn’t a word,” Elena abruptly turned to face her again and snarl, “There’s ‘bloated’ and ‘bloating,’ but no ‘bloaty!’’’  
“Fascinating,” she mumbled sarcastically under her breath as she watched the teenager disappear out the door. She shook her head in disbelief. She was a respectable newscaster with a powerful reputation. And now everyone in the shop had seen that and was staring at her. She wondered if that girl suffered from any kind of psychological issues. She turned and quickly got her coffee off the counter, making her way back to the table in the corner where Damon had been waiting for her.   
“Did you see that?” she asked incredulously, taking a seat across from him.  
Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about it,” Damon stated carelessly, glancing up from the newspaper he was intently reading. They both lulled back into silence as Andie went over the encounter in her mind trying to think of why Elena could have possibly been so angry with her.   
“Elena must really love coffee,” she sighed, taking a sip of her own beverage. Damon broke out into a wide, knowing grin.   
“I’m starting to realize that.”


	8. They Shoot Gilberts, Don't They?

“It’s five o’clock, Elena. In the morning. We should not be awake right now,” Jeremy whined as they strolled into the high school gymnasium Saturday for the Mystic Falls 24 hour dance marathon.   
“Come on, Jer. You know this is important to Jenna. We need to be here to support her,” she said while standing on her toes in a vain attempt to see the registration booth over the bustling crowd. Spotting it upfront, she grabbed her brother’s arm. “Let’s just sign in and get our numbers.” Since Bonnie was still out of town with her family and Elena secretly didn’t think she could handle twenty four hours straight with Stefan, she and Jeremy had decided to be dance partners.  
The event had a 1940s/World War II theme, so everyone was dressed up in fun costumes and the whole gym was decorated with posters of victory gardens, Rosie the Riveter, and other Army paraphernalia. The past few days, Jenna had been working extensively with the Mystic Falls Historical Society and Carol Lockwood to make this dance marathon happen. She wanted to make up for all the time she missed for the wedding and the honeymoon with something the whole town could enjoy.   
“Hey, Elena! Jeremy!” she heard Ric call, breaking her out of her thoughts. Their pseudo – step uncle was standing right next to the registration booth in a complete army general costume when they finally made their way to the front of the line. “How are you guys doing?”  
“Tired,” Jeremy quipped.  
“We’re fine,” Elena glared at her brother, “I’m so proud of Jenna for doing this.”  
“Yeah, about Jenna…” Ric rubbed the side of his neck nervously and glanced up at his wife standing on the podium. Talking to Mrs. Lockwood, she kept smoothing down the front of her white and red gingham dress anxiously. “She was talking to me yesterday about how she wants to have children soon.”  
“Really? Congratulations, Ric!” Elena beamed while pinning a number card to the back of Jeremy’s Navy uniform. She thought the two of them would make exceptional parents.   
“Yeah, thanks,” he muttered automatically but then sighed in frustration. “The problem is I don’t know if I want kids, though.”  
What? Why not?” Elena scrunched her nose in confusion and adjusted her navy polka dot dress so the safety pin Jeremy just used to attach her number wouldn’t dig into her soft skin.  
“Well, I spend all day at school surrounded by teenagers, and then we have you two to take care of,” he confessed to them. “We talked about this before we got married, but it was all very hypothetical. Now it’s like she thinks I want the exact same things as she does.”  
“Ric, this is something you and Jenna have to seriously talk about,” Jeremy advised, clapping the man on the back heartily. “But if you don’t want kids, she can’t really force you. It should be mutual.”  
“I’m sure you guys will come to some kind of…compromise or something?” Elena tilted her head.  
“Yeah, I guess,” Ric resigned, shrugging his shoulders. “Thanks-”  
“Attention, everyone!” Carol Lockwood’s chipper voice boomed into the megaphone and resonated throughout the gym. “It’s time for the dance marathon to begin! Everybody find their partners and remember you have to stay moving at all times. One partner can leave the floor for a maximum of ten minutes as long as they have a yellow emergency card and the other partner stays moving!”  
“So, I’ll see you guys out there,” he nodded as he walked away from the two Gilberts in search of Jenna.  
As the hours seemed to fly by and the songs skipped, Elena and Jeremy danced like fools doing elaborate twists and turns. They laughed and just let go of themselves for the first time in a while. Caroline and Tyler eventually made their way over to them, and the four friends had the time of their lives reveling in the simple joys of just dancing and being teenagers, for once not worrying about supernatural sacrifices.   
The vampire and the werewolf had finally put aside all their obstacles and gotten together. They would have to continue being especially careful on full moons so Caroline could stay safe, but it was worth it. Elena felt sorry for Matt, who was running concessions for the Grill today and had to watch them share secret smiles and touches, but she was really happy for them. No one had ever thought the two of them would be together, especially their mothers, but they made it work perfectly.   
Around hour five, Stefan came to cheer them on from the sidelines and relax on the bleachers. Elena smiled and danced over to say hi, but she was becoming more and more unsure of their relationship as the days passed. There were so many different issues between them that she was finally starting to take note of. Like how he would unnecessarily try to protect and coddle her. And how she didn’t seem to find the passion in him that she used to. And most importantly, how neither of them was honest with each other, albeit his lies were much different than hers were.   
“Damon! Damon Salvatore!” Carol Lockwood screeched into her megaphone, pulling Elena out of her love laden thoughts. “Only dancers on the gym floor! Did you hear me? You can’t walk there!” She immediately snapped her head up and her eyes scanned the crowd frantically for the black clad vampire.   
“Damon!” she heard Caroline cry, and turning in her direction, she saw him. Practically pulling Andie by the hand, he was cutting directly through the middle of the dance floor and breaking apart some couples in the process, like Caroline and Tyler. “We’re not disqualified now, are we?”  
Her eyes continued to follow him all the way to the basketball bleachers where the two of them sat exactly three rows back from Stefan. No doubt Damon’s immature attempt at irritating his brother. And her.   
And when his sparkling eyes finally lifted to meet hers, she knew they were both aware of how much he could get under her skin. Always.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Hey,” Elena greeted as she made her way over to him during the twenty minute break they had. Stefan kissed her lightly on the cheek and returned her hello. “Do you wanna get some sandwiches?” she asked him lightly. He nodded his head in acquiescence and took her by the hand to lead her into the cafeteria where Matt was handing out assorted deli sandwiches and chips to the townspeople.   
He almost stopped short when he saw his brother at the front of the table, probably needling Matt unnecessarily about the health quality of the food. He sighed. It was the twelve hour mark and he had been there already for half of that. He was tired. Not just in general, but of all the drama. Of him, and Elena, and Damon.   
While he had fallen back, Elena charged forward toward the elder Salvatore, seemingly angered. “The sandwiches are for the dancers, you know,” she huffed, folding her thin arms in front of her.  
“Well, I’m dancing on the inside,” he turned to face them, a lazy smirk plastered on his face.  
“You have nothing better to do than sit around a gymnasium all day, staring at a dance marathon?” she interrogated him.   
“I don’t know!” his eyes widened in mock innocence as he turned to face Stefan. “Do you have anything better to do than sit around a gymnasium all day, watching a dance marathon?” Stefan let out a steady stream of air in a vain attempt to ignore his brother’s sarcastic barbs.   
Placing a hand on Elena’s back, he leaned down slightly to meet her ear, “let’s just get out of here.”  
“If you wanna be here so badly, why didn’t you just enter?” she ignored him and continued on in her debate. “I’m sure Andie would have been a more than willing partner.”   
“Perhaps, but her dancing skills are definitely not up to my standards,” he replied airily. “Unlike some people’s.”  
Stefan knew that had struck something in Elena because she immediately looked down as a light pink flush worked up her skin. He narrowed his eyes at the two. He’d known for a while that there was always a little something more than friendship between his girlfriend and Damon. The shared smiles, the way they confided in each other, how they seemingly brought each other to life.   
“You know you’re not bugging me, sitting in front of me and staring like that,” Elena composed herself and quipped.  
“And you’re not bugging me, dancing in front of me and staring like that,” Damon’s grin widened even more, if that was even possible.   
“I’m not staring at you! I’m dancing!” she exclaimed, tossing her hands in the air in frustration. “I can’t control where my glance goes! And when I can, I look at Stefan.”  
He noticed the hesitation before her words when saying his name and the brief flinch of hurt that passed over his brother’s face at that. It was just another one of the many signs he was beginning to notice of how things had changed between the three of them. Between Damon and Elena.  
While the two of them were undoubtedly very close, they had never crossed the line. He had trusted Elena and despite Damon trying to push its boundaries, it was never crossed. Until a few weeks ago.   
Damon had his wall of indifference back in place almost faster than Stefan could blink. He looked between them, his eyes twinkling. “So you can’t help it when you look at me, but you have to force yourself to look at your boyfriend. Ouch.”   
Stefan was finally going to say something to stop the two of them, although he didn’t see how that was possible, when Andie appeared at Damon’s side. God, he thought. That poor girl really didn’t belong in this situation at all.   
“Where did you go?” she whined, her hand on her hip.  
“Came to get food.”  
“Thank God, I’m starved.”  
“The food is for the dancers!” he looked next to him to see Elena stubbornly snap at the dysfunctional couple.   
“Elena’s feeling a bit… territorial lately,” Damon commented offhandedly, catching her eye.   
“First the coffee, now the sandwiches…” Andie rolled her eyes. But Stefan noted that Elena and Damon’s gazes were still intensely locked on each other, subtlety trying to convey everything they couldn’t say. Stefan slowly looked back and forth between the two and sighed. He didn’t know if Elena and Damon were aware that he knew they kissed or if they were ever planning on telling him. And he didn’t know when, or even how many times, it happened. And honestly, he didn’t actually think he was surprised.   
“Elena, come on,” he threw his arm around her shoulder and gently led her back toward the gym. “Let’s just go.”  
He had been on his way back from hunting that afternoon when he heard them locked in a heated argument at the boarding house. He paused to listen, only for a minute, to see if she was in trouble or if there was anything to worry about. But then he heard it. 

We kissed…where we stand…your jealousy is flattering…I went after you…let me all the way in…it doesn’t matter.

Their spars, yells, and pleas kept running through his head, haunting him. The depth at which they truly felt for each other had shocked and angered him at first. How could he have been so oblivious? He trusted Elena, at times blindingly. And while he didn’t exactly trust Damon the same way, he didn’t think his brother would be so willing to get caught in the past again.  
But at this point, he wasn’t angry anymore. He was just tired.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
By hour nineteen, Damon was beyond bored. Andie was stretched out next to him, asleep, and he couldn’t honestly think of any reason why he wasn’t either. He was starting to reconsider why he decided to do this.  
When he heard that Elena was dancing with her brother and not Stefan, it intrigued him. He thought maybe her feelings for him were finally starting to get at her, itching their way to the surface. Perhaps he figured if he came today and sat in front of her while she danced, it could act as a pull in his direction. Or more accurately, a constant reminder for her of what they could have together.   
He let out a groan of exasperation. His eyes lazily scanned the crowd in front of him. There were only a few couples left on the dance floor at this point in the competition. And all of them looked dead on their feet. It seemed like Elena and her brother were hanging on to each other just to stay upright. But if they could hold on a little longer, they could probably win. The overweight couple in the corner was about to collapse and the two pairs of elderly contestants could have a heart attack at any minute. His eyes caught sight on his brother sitting in front of him; he almost had to bite back a laugh. Stefan had deliberately moved to almost the very front of the bleachers when he realized that the elder Salvatore had positioned himself only a few rows directly behind him. And now he was rigidly sitting with his eyes trained on Elena and Jeremy. Sometimes Damon just couldn’t figure him out.   
“Jeremy!” he sighted a red faced Jenna march over the two Gilbert siblings, and an almost apologetic Ric trailing behind her. Damon gleefully sparked back to life, sitting up straight and at attention to witness the family spat. “Did you tell Ric we shouldn’t have children?”  
“What?” Jeremy stuttered, obviously thrown off. “Of course not!”  
“So you didn’t tell him ‘she can’t force you to have kids,”’ she angrily imitated, jabbing her hand on her hip.  
“Jenna, please…” Ric pleaded with her to stop making a scene.  
“Don’t please me, Ric! That was a private matter!”  
“He was only trying to help,” Elena sleepily attempted to defend her brother.  
“This was supposed to be between me and Ric,” she snapped.  
“And the Lord,” Damon quipped to himself, finding the whole conversation highly entertaining. Although that could be because he hadn’t had any other contact with anyone in hours. Well, Andie, but she barely counted. He tuned back into the conversation just in time to see Jenna storming off and Ric once again desperately following her.   
“Elena, I need to go do damage control, okay?” Jeremy took hold of his sister’s shoulders and took Elena’s brief nod as acceptance. The younger Gilbert looked up into the stands and his eyes briefly locked on Damon’s. He was confused for a second as he saw hesitation pass over Jeremy’s face, until he turned to look at Stefan.  
“Stefan! Come here for a second!” Jeremy called out, and almost instantly Stefan ran over to meet him. “Can you just make sure she stays upright? And preferably moving? I need to go after them.”  
And as Jeremy quickly followed his aunt and teacher...uncle…whatever out of the gym, Damon actually felt pangs of jealousy shoot through him at the sight of Elena’s exhausted frame fall into Stefan’s arms. Goddamn it. He wanted to be the one to hold her up when she needed him. He wanted to be the guy she went to lean on. He almost rolled his eyes at how pathetic he’d become, but at this point he didn’t really care. He just wanted to be with her.   
He felt Andie stirring next to him and glanced down to see her begin waking up. “Hey,” she mumbled. “I’m bored. Can we please go, Damon?”  
He was about to finally agree, not wanting to subject himself to anymore Stefan and Elena cuteness because he wasn’t quite that masochistic, when he heard Elena over the crowd. And if he heard right, she was talking about him and Andie, rather irately.   
“I’m sorry, but are you talking about me?”  
“No,” she snapped, turning to glare at him with a fiery intensity.   
“But you just mentioned Andie.”  
“Andie isn’t you.”  
“But she concerns me,” he furrowed his brow at her, ignoring the hand Andie placed on his shoulder that silently told him to just leave it be.   
“And she concerns me, too,” Elena focused her gaze on the aspiring newscaster, trying to convey a knowing look. As the brunette’s eyes bore into her, Andie slumped complacently and anxiously fidgeted with her scarf.  
“Look, what is your issue?” Damon looked from one woman to the other, his eyes finally settling on the young doppleganger in front of him.   
“No issue,” Elena denied waftily, placing her hand lightly on Stefan’s shoulder. “I’m just sick of seeing the two of you sitting there. I mean, why don’t you just leave?”  
“That’s what I was trying to ask him,” Andie snipped, standing and placing her hand on Damon’s forearm. “We should just go.”  
“Nope,” he popped. “I’m not ready to leave yet. And if you don’t like it, why don’t you just ignore me and pay attention to your boyfriend over there?”  
“She can’t,” Stefan finally snapped at the two of them, tossing Elena’s arm off of him. “Because I’m not her boyfriend anymore.”  
“Wh...what?”  
“Excuse me?”  
“God, I’m such an idiot thinking that I could possibly ignore this,” Stefan gestured between Damon and Elena, “the two of you.”  
“Stefan…” Elena whimpered.  
“You don’t want to be with me, Elena,” Stefan turned calmly to meet her watery gaze.  
“Brother,” he deadpanned, standing up in front of the broken couple. “Are you really gonna do this right now?”  
“Now? It’s done. It’s been over for a while, hasn’t it?” Stefan shrugged, “I spent weeks, months, trying to convince myself it wasn’t true. But it’s so damn obvious.”   
“What did I do?” she whispered so softly that Damon’s heart almost broke for her.   
“You’re in love with him, Elena!” he gestured widely, “And for God’s sake, the whole fucking town knows he’s in love with you.”   
“Hey, Stefan. Relax, ok?” Damon went up to him. Not only was Elena seemingly shell shocked from hurt and shame, all the remaining Mystic Falls citizens in the gym were staring at them. This may have been what Damon had wanted to happen for so long, but definitely not like this.   
“You got what you wanted, brother. So go ahead, be together,” Stefan shrugged off Damon’s outstretched arm and grabbed his jacket off the bleacher bench. “Cause I’m tired, and I’m over it.”  
As Stefan retreated through the gym doors, Damon glanced over at Elena and saw her doe eyes widen and her bottom lip tremble. He sighed and slowly walked over to stand in front of her lost, fragile frame. Nudging her chin up gently to catch her gaze and hopefully convey that it would all be alright, Elena just gulped and shook her head frantically. Before he could do anything to stop her, she was running away from him and out the door.   
“Miss Gilbert? Where is your yellow card? One partner must be at the dance floor at all times! I don’t see a yellow card!”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Elena felt so guilty. God, she was a terrible person. She pulled off her shoes as hot tears slid down her blotchy cheeks, carrying her mascara with them. Sitting on the edge of the Falls, she dipped her toes in the water in hopes that maybe its coolness on her feet would relax her.  
No such luck. She furiously began yanking grass out from the ground next to her until she stilled at the sound of footsteps approaching behind her. She didn’t even need to look up to know who it was this time.   
“Stefan shouldn’t have done that, break up with you in front of everyone like a douche,” he awkwardly tried to make her feel better. For once it seemed his calm, sarcastic demeanor was not in place, and he didn’t really know what to do.  
“He was right, Damon,” she turned to look up at him, her voice breaking. “About everything.”  
“What?” he frowned, clearly thrown off at her words.  
“I lied to him, and I cheated on him with his own brother, and I was just horrible to him,” she began sobbing all over again as Damon gingerly took a seat on the grass next to her. “I deserved to broken up with like that.”  
“No one deserves that, Elena,” he said sternly.   
“You know what the worst part is?” she looked up at him. “I actually feel relieved. Because I should have broken up with him a long time ago, but I couldn’t. I was just too much of a coward.”  
“Elena, it’s alright-”  
“And selfish!” she threw her hands in the air, seemingly disgusted with herself. “I was selfish because I couldn’t let go of the safety, and the protection, that I thought Stefan gave me, even though I already knew that my heart belonged to you. I’m just like Katherine!”   
“Hey,” he grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him so just maybe she would believe his words. “You are absolutely nothing like Katherine. She was manipulative, and cold, and she never really cared about me or Stefan. You are so much different. You’re caring, and loyal, and passionate-”  
“God, I love you so much” she breathed, finally letting out the words she’d been trying to hold in for so long.  
Damon’s eyes glistened in surprise and complete adoration as his soft lips immediately descended onto hers. They melded together as she responded with just as much passion. His arm snaked around her tiny waist and pulled her flush against him as she hooked one of her legs over his, so she was almost sitting on his lap. Heat spread throughout her entire body and settled in her core as she tangled her fingers into the silky material of Damon’s shirt, pulling him infinitely deeper her. Their breathing intensified as their tongues dueled heatedly.   
“Wait,” Damon slowly pulled away from her. Seeing the brief hurt flash across her eyes, he brushed her lips with his thumb. “I need to say something.”  
“Oh my God,” her eyes widened as she disentangled herself from him.  
“What?” his face wrinkled in misunderstanding.  
“Andie!” she exclaimed, burying her face in her hands. “Oh my God, Damon! You still have a girlfriend!”  
“Elena, Andie’s gone!” Damon laughed, throwing his head back. “She’ll probably be in New York by tomorrow.”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“Well, after we mutually broke up tonight, Andie decided that it would be best to focus on her career for a while,” Damon exaggerated, raising his eyebrows challengingly, “which could be done best from the big city.”  
“You know you can’t always compel people to get everything you want,” she tried to scold him, but she was still giddy off his burning kisses that she just ended up biting back a laugh.  
“That won’t stop me from trying,” he joked, matching her smile with his signature cocky smirk as he leaned back in toward her.  
“Wait,” she placed a hand on his shoulder, “you were gonna tell me something?”  
Damon’s face softened as he lightly cupped her cheek with his palm. “I was going to tell you that I love you, too,” he murmured to her like a prayer. “You have no idea how much I love you, Elena. You made me feel human again for the first time in over a century. You picked up the broken pieces of who I was and actually convinced me that I could be the better man for once, and not just someone’s crappy second choice. You’re everything to me, and I don’t think I could ever live without you.”  
When their lips brushed again, it wasn’t as yearning and fiery as the first time but more soft and tender to convey all the love they had for each other. As Damon’s hand moved from her cheek to the nape of her neck, she felt herself drowning in his devotion for her. She knew at that point on, her and Damon would always conquer anything that stood in their way of forever, whether it be Klaus or Katherine, vampire, witch, or werewolf. Because here in his arms, she felt safe and warm. Damon was her home.


End file.
